When I spoke to New York Yankees manager Joe Torre during last year's playoffs, he told me he might move Alfonso Soriano to left field. He expected Soriano to get bigger and stronger and to hit more home runs than the 18 he had a year ago as a rookie.

	Alfonso Soriano Second Base New York Yankees Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI R SB AVG 53 14 37 43 14 .319

But when I saw Torre again Monday in Chicago, I said, "Don't move this kid. He has special talent. He can be a great second baseman." Torre agreed; he is not going to move Soriano.

Moving Soriano to the outfield would be like moving Mike Piazza to first base. If Piazza became a first baseman instead of a catcher, his value as a player would diminish. More first basemen hit 40 home runs and drive in 100 runs than catchers, and more outfielders do it than second basemen.

Other than Soriano's phenomenal numbers over the first two months of the season, what makes him special is the position he plays. The middle infield positions are the most demanding and place a premium on defense as well as offense. Corner outfielders do not help their team much if they are not hitting because they only see a few flyballs a game. Middle infielders, however, are more involved in the action from pitch to pitch.

I talked to Mariano Rivera about how good Soriano is, and he said, "Yeah, he's like you." I said, "No, he is nothing like me." I could never hit a home run to the opposite field like Soriano. Although he looks thinner up close than he does from a distance, Soriano has the perfect physique for his height and can drive the ball with power to all fields.

Earlier in the season, Jason Giambi said he could see Soriano becoming the first-ever 50-50 man – 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in one season. But there is a reason only three players -- Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez -- are members of the 40-40 club. Hitting 40 homers and stealing 40 is not as easy as one may think, especially in one season. However, Soriano stole 43 bases as a rookie, and I can see him hitting 40 home runs in a season.

Soriano reminds me of Juan Samuel, whom I played with in Philadelphia when he was a rookie in 1983. I thought Samuel had the ability to be the greatest second baseman ever because he combined speed, power and quickness. Like Samuel, Soriano has above-average power and speed for a second baseman. While Samuel may have been a bit faster and quicker, Soriano has more power than Samuel did.

Samuel had a few great seasons, including 28 homers and 100 RBIs in 1987, but he never developed as much as I thought he should. I tried to help him, passing along the lessons Nellie Fox and Bob Lillis taught me when I was a young player in Houston. Although Samuel responded quickly and worked hard, I don't think he got proper coaching after I left Philadelphia. Samuel was eventually moved to the outfield, which I thought was a waste of a great talent.

The art of playing second

While Alfonso Soriano is in good shape with Willie Randolph and Joe Torre, I think I was in the greatest situation for a young infielder. You don't get any better fundamentally than Nellie Fox, Bob Lillis and Eddie Kasko, the three teachers I had in Houston. I wasn't a good second baseman at the time, but they saw something in me -- just like I saw something in Juan Samuel in 1983. I would get to the stadium at 3:30 p.m., and field 100 ground balls and turn double plays before the rest of the team practiced. It took its toll on my physically because I was tired before the game started, but everything we did had a purpose. They made me into a five-time Gold Glove second baseman. When Soriano turns a double play, he has the same problem most former shortstops have -- he relies too much on his arm. He stands at the bag most of the time to receive the ball and uses his strong arm to get the runner at first base. When he stands at the bag, he becomes a target for the baserunner, who can slide into him and throw him off balance. Plus, standing at the bag and throwing the ball is not turning a double play; that is just playing catch. Turning the double play is an art that isn't easily learned over a short period of time. There are ways of turning the double play that will ensure the second baseman will always complete it, no matter where the runner is. But the second baseman has to vary what he does each time -- whether he will come across the bag or stay at the bag or do something else. It also helps the second baseman to go meet the ball when it comes from third base, so he get it quicker and then get rid of it. Former Cardinals second baseman Julian Javier was called "The Ghost" because nobody could hit him. Bill Mazeroski was similar, but he had such strong legs that he would let runners hit him once in a while. He didn't care. Mazeroski and Javier were true double-play artists. -- Joe Morgan

Samuel's inability to get the most out of his potential still bothers me. I hope the same doesn't happen to Soriano, who is lucky in at least two ways. First, one of his coaches is Willie Randolph, a former Yankees' second baseman who can push Soriano every day to improve his game. And then he has Torre. Although Torre was never a middle infielder, he knows the game and is the kind of manager who expects his players to play a complete game, not just one portion of it.

Last year Torre talked to Soriano after he didn't run out a ground ball; it never happened again. Every once in a while, Torre has to remind Soriano to keep taking shots to right field because Soriano will start pulling out with his front shoulder. He reminded Soriano again Sunday after Darren Oliver struck him out looking in the third inning. He told Soriano to take the outside pitch the opposite way, and he hit a home run to right field in his next at-bat. The next inning, Soriano hit another home run -- this time to left field.

We interviewed Soriano after Sunday's game. I have always felt players who smiled a lot were more confident in their ability. And Soriano has an outgoing personality and a big smile on his face all the time. After he wished his mother a Happy Mother's Day (it was Mother's Day in the Dominican Republic), Soriano talked about how he tries to play hard and adjust to situations on the field.

Soriano was thrown into the fire last season. With the Yankees, players are expected to help the team win. Despite his age and inexperience, Soriano had to do a good job because the Yankees were trying to win a fourth straight World Series title. But Torre told me Soriano has no fear. He shakes off his mistakes and is intelligent about making adjustments.

In the first 21 games of this season, Soriano made eight errors. He has only made two since. A player learns more from adversity than he does from continued success. His errors were an indication he needed to concentrate more and rely less on his tremendous raw ability. His improved focus has led to fewer defensive mistakes.

As a hitter, Soriano is either at or near the top of the American League in most major categories -- batting average, home runs, RBI, runs, hits, slugging percentage, total bases, stolen bases and doubles -- but he also leads the league in strikeouts. While he needs to cut down on strikeouts, he shouldn't strike out less at the cost of losing his aggressiveness.

At the same time, Soriano has only walked seven times in 238 at-bats. The low walk total is only a concern because he is still swinging at too many bad pitches and striking out too much. I expect his walks to increase because pitchers will become more hesitant to throw him 2-0 fastballs down the middle and let him hit home runs.

Walks are a product of pitchers pitching more carefully. Pitchers walk Bonds more out of caution than a lack of control. Likewise, Soriano's power will force pitchers to pitch around him more, leading to more walks.

Eventually, Soriano will have to move out of the leadoff spot. Because the Yankees no longer had a leadoff hitter after Chuck Knoblauch left, Soriano was moved to the top of the order after hitting eighth and ninth most of last season. Soriano has the necessary speed and the ability to steal bases to be an effective leadoff hitter. But last year, Torre told me he expected Soriano to someday become a middle-of-the-order hitter who could drive in runs.

The third spot in the order would be good for Soriano because he can run. However, a team doesn't want its No. 3 hitter striking out much. He needs to make contact because he may hit a lot with a runner on third and less than two outs. If his strikeout totals remain high, Soriano could also hit fourth. But he will remain in the leadoff spot for at least the near future. As long as Bernie Williams and Giambi are with the Yankees, Torre won't move them from the third and fourth spots in the order.

So far, Soriano has been the Yankees' MVP. He is the biggest reason the team got hot, winning 18 of its last 22 games, after getting off to a somewhat average start. But remember, the season is a 162-game marathon. Everyone wants to evaluate the state of baseball after the first two months of the season. Despite all the accolades I could give Soriano, there is still a long season ahead.

No matter how the Yankees fare this season, Soriano should continue to get better as a player and do special things – especially now that he will remain at second base.

Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan is a baseball analyst for ESPN and contributes a weekly column for ESPN.com.