Crasnick: Pointing out the good amid all the bad

Jerry Crasnick takes a look at some silver linings in the storm cloud of suckitude for nine non-contenders. Always look on the bright side of life....

Sacrilegious as it might seem, Soria even has drawn a Mariano Rivera comparison or two.

“Nasty,” Minnesota’s Justin Morneau told the Kansas City Star. “He’s 93-94 [mph], but it looks like it’s 97-98. He’s confident, comes right at you, doesn’t mess around. He’s got a chance to be one of the best closers in the game for sure.”

San Diego general manager Kevin Towers justifiably has earned a reputation for building good bullpens on the cheap, but the Padres let a good one slip away when they left Soria exposed and allowed Kansas City to select him in the 2006 Rule 5 draft.

Several years ago, Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao earned the nickname “Mexicutioner” by sending several prominent Mexican opponents to the canvas. Now Royals fans have applied the name to Soria, a native of Monclova, Mexico. He takes no offense at the designation.

When a local radio station made up “Mexicutioner” T-shirts in July, devotees snapped up 5,000 of them in a hurry. Nothing move