Yanks grow another star

ST. PETERSBURG -- It's bad enough the Yankees seemingly can purchase just about any superstar deemed necessary to sustain their dynasty (for 2002, see Giambi, Jason).

What's really disconcerting for Yankee-haters, however, is the way their farm system cranks out great player after great player, from Andy Pettitte to Derek Jeter to Mariano Rivera to Bernie Williams to ...

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing New York's latest homegrown star, Alfonso Soriano.

Who can loathe championship teams forged the old-fashioned way? Soriano is the latest to roll off the Yankee player-development assembly line, and after a noteworthy rookie season in 2001, the 24-year-old second baseman is embarking on a breakout campaign.

Soriano is batting .348 with 49 hits, 84 total bases, 23 extra-base hits, 17 multihit games and 17 doubles. All except the batting average are tops in the American League.

Despite hitting almost exclusively in the leadoff position, Soriano also is second on the Yankees in home runs (6) and first in RBIs (22).

Soriano was the catalyst in New York's 5-2 win Tuesday over the Devil Rays, going 3-for-4 with a double, 2 runs and 2 RBIs. He drew a leadoff walk, his sixth of the season and a good sign, as the Yankees would like the free-swinging Soriano (he had 29 walks as a rookie) to be more selective.

In the third inning he beat out an infield single, and he came up in the seventh with the Yankees trailing 2-1. Soriano promptly laced Paul Wilson's first delivery into the leftfield corner for a double, scoring Nick Johnson to tie. Jeter followed with a single, and the fleet Soriano dashed around to score easily and put the Yankees up 3-2. His bloop single in the ninth scored Rondell White, and Soriano scored on wild pitch.

New York's player development personnel will have to share credit for Soriano's ascension with the Hiroshima Tokyo Carp of Japan's Central League.

Soriano, a native of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic -- perhaps the most fertile baseball-producing region in the world -- spent most of the 1996 and '97 seasons in the Carp's minor-league system.

The Yankees purchased him in 1998, and he quickly scaled their minor-league system. Soriano was a late-season call-up in 1999, and his first big-league hit Sept. 24 was a game-ending 11th-inning home run at Yankee Stadium off Tampa Bay's Norm Charlton.

Soriano spent most of 2000 at Triple-A Columbus before taking over as New York's second baseman last season. He made a big splash, batting .268 with 18 home runs, 34 doubles, 73 RBIs and a team rookie-record 43 stolen bases. He finished third behind Ichiro Suzuki in rookie of the year balloting.

Lest Soriano be anointed the next Roberto Alomar, his defense has been shaky. His eight errors (he had 19 in 158 games in 2001) lead all major-league second baseman but he was flawless Tuesday, deftly handling tricky choppers by the speedy Jason Tyner and Randy Winn to snuff a Rays opportunity in the eighth.

With good range and a live arm, Soriano's fielding is expected to catch up with his hitting. By then, New York likely will be churning out its next homegrown star. And maybe buying another one, too.