Alfonso Soriano

Alfonso Guilleard Soriano (born January 7, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball left fielder and second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, and Washington Nationals, and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Soriano began his professional career with Hiroshima in 1996, but signed with the Yankees as a free agent in 1998 and was assigned to play in minor league baseball. The next year, he was the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the All-Star Futures Game, and made his MLB debut for the Yankees, with whom he would win two American League championships. The Yankees traded Soriano to the Rangers after the 2003 season, and the Rangers traded Soriano to the Nationals after the 2005 season. He signed a contract as a free agent with the Cubs before the 2007 season. The Cubs traded Soriano to the Yankees in 2013, and the Yankees released him in 2014. Soriano was a seven-time MLB All-Star, and won the All-Star Game MVP Award in 2004. He won the Silver Slugger Award four times. He is one of only 4 players in the 40-40 club, achieving the feat in 2006. He played primarily as a second baseman for the Yankees and Rangers before being converted to an outfielder with the Nationals. Soriano is one of only 56 major league players to hit 400 or more career home runs, and was seventh among active players in home runs at the time of his retirement.