At this point it's fruitless to criticize the Chicago Cubs' decision to sign Alfonso Soriano to an eight-year, $136 million contract prior to the 2007 season. Chicago, weighing its near century without a championship, thought Soriano could help them to a title, even though the consensus was that Soriano would severely decline by the end of the contract. That championship never came, and many Cubs fans feared that 2009 would be the beginning of the slide for Soriano. Hampered by a balky left knee, Soriano posted a career low batting line of .241/.303/.423.

In reality, Soriano isn't as bad as he performed last year, though to believe that his future production -- regardless of whether he's healthy -- will match anything he posted from 2003-06 is probably a pipe dream.