CONFIRMED: CUBS GET SOLER!!! 9yrs/30 mill

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Yeah, I don't even know why I mentioned the CBA. I know there's no cap as long as he's signed by July 2 (right??). Trying to find it again, but I know I saw on some blog, someone arguing Hoystein just "get it over with" & offer 8/64....

 

"Crazy" money in this case should be $20 to $30 million. I'd be stunned if any other team was offering more.

 

It depends how many years we're talking. On one hand, there are the big money teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies with aging rosters and diminishing farm systems and rarely a top 10 draft pick. On the other, there are the smaller market teams looking to rebuild. The might not stand a shot at competing for the big money free agents, but if we're talking 20-30 mil over 5-7 years, it's just 4-6 mil/year, which is not going to hurt even them. I'm all for doing what it takes to get him, but there's little doubt in my mind that other interested teams have the same mind set.

 

I could be wrong, but I'd be completely and utterly stunned if he's getting a Cespedes/Fukudome "released at the end" clause in his contract. The years don't really matter if he's not.

[El Duderino]

@CarrieMuskat

 

New free agent Jorge Soler had workout today, and several teams attended, including ‪#Cubs

[Guest]

@CarrieMuskat

 

New free agent Jorge Soler had workout today, and several teams attended, including ‪#Cubs

 

What crappy timing, what with the draft going on.

 

I guess the higher ups don't really need to be involved in the draft much at this stage of the game, though.

[RammyFanny]

“We obviously scouted him extensively — a lot of teams have — and a lot of teams are involved,” Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said. “We had a similar situation with [Yoenis] Cespedes this winter. It will be intriguing. We’ve done our work on him.”

 

Cespedes eventually signed with the Athletics. Soler’s agents have set a July 2 signing deadline for teams to submit bids for the Cuban outfielder.

 

“It’s not surprising [lot of teams are involved] — he’s really talented and there is that July 2 uniqueness that adds to it,” Hoyer said.

From Muskat's blog...i'm going to trust Goldstein on the June 7 thing. Don't want to wait until signing deadline like Muskat thinks.

[Guest]

“We obviously scouted him extensively — a lot of teams have — and a lot of teams are involved,” Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said. “We had a similar situation with [Yoenis] Cespedes this winter. It will be intriguing. We’ve done our work on him.”

 

Cespedes eventually signed with the Athletics. Soler’s agents have set a July 2 signing deadline for teams to submit bids for the Cuban outfielder.

 

“It’s not surprising [lot of teams are involved] — he’s really talented and there is that July 2 uniqueness that adds to it,” Hoyer said.

From Muskat's blog...i'm going to trust Goldstein on the June 7 thing. Don't want to wait until signing deadline like Muskat thinks.

 

 

She's an idiot.

 

She's apparently unaware of what Hoyer meant by July 2nd.

[Guest]

“We obviously scouted him extensively — a lot of teams have — and a lot of teams are involved,” Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said. “We had a similar situation with [Yoenis] Cespedes this winter. It will be intriguing. We’ve done our work on him.”

 

Cespedes eventually signed with the Athletics. Soler’s agents have set a July 2 signing deadline for teams to submit bids for the Cuban outfielder.

 

“It’s not surprising [lot of teams are involved] — he’s really talented and there is that July 2 uniqueness that adds to it,” Hoyer said.

From Muskat's blog...i'm going to trust Goldstein on the June 7 thing. Don't want to wait until signing deadline like Muskat thinks.

 

 

She's an idiot.

 

She's apparently unaware of what Hoyer meant by July 2nd.

 

Exactly. Goldstein might be wrong on a deadline of tomorrow but the deadline is certainly not the day he would be forced to get, approximately, 10% of what he could get the day before.

[Guest]

How do you have that job and not know what the hell is going on?

 

Drives me insane.

 

Several posters here could do a better job for free in their spare time.

[Tedward]

Nothing really new, but this from a NYY Beat reporter (George King) in this morning's NY Post...

 

Though the Yankees have an interest in Cuban Jorge Soler, sources suggest the Cubs will land the 20-year-old outfielder, who was recently declared a free agent.

 

“They have spent a lot of time with him,’’ the source said of the Cubs. The Pirates also have been linked to Soler.

 

Soler, who projects as a right fielder, has some scouts believing he is a better investment than the four-year, $36 million the A’s gave Yoenis Cespedes, who will be 27 in October.

 

Soler’s agents want bids submitted Thursday, and the terms floating around baseball Wednesday were four years at $20 million.

[ctcf]

Welp, today's the big day. Seriously hoping we hear something by the end of the weekend.

[Post Count Padder]

Any chance we might hear something today? At least in terms of who made offers?

[davell]

My guess is this is an initial offer type of thing. The teams that show they're serious will then have time to provide more, as far as visits to their parks, whatever else Soler and his camp may want. My guess is he signs near the end of the month.

[jersey cubs fan]

My guess is this is an initial offer type of thing. The teams that show they're serious will then have time to provide more, as far as visits to their parks, whatever else Soler and his camp may want. My guess is he signs near the end of the month.

 

That would make sense in the offseason, but in the middle of the season, for as drawn out as this process has already becoming, I don't see them wanting to waste another month of work. The interested teams should be able to get to their numbers fairly quickly.

[Guest]

Any chance we might hear something today? At least in terms of who made offers?

The agent could leak something to the media to try to raise offers. Other than that, we probably won't hear much right now.

[davell]

My guess is this is an initial offer type of thing. The teams that show they're serious will then have time to provide more, as far as visits to their parks, whatever else Soler and his camp may want. My guess is he signs near the end of the month.

 

That would make sense in the offseason, but in the middle of the season, for as drawn out as this process has already becoming, I don't see them wanting to waste another month of work. The interested teams should be able to get to their numbers fairly quickly.

 

Ahh, good point. If he wants to make much headway this season for a team, he'll get it done ASAP. That said, he still doesn't have his OFAC deal straight(the unblocking license) as far as I'm aware of. That took Cespedes a couple of weeks to get, after he was cleared. Badler was the guy who mentioned this still needed to be taken care of. Granted, I have no idea if he's actually eligible to sign a contract right now, just can't come to the US, or what. This process isn't the easiest thing in the world to get a true grasp on.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Any chance we might hear something today? At least in terms of who made offers?

The agent could leak something to the media to try to raise offers. Other than that, we probably won't hear much right now.

 

I'm sure we'll be hearing reports from an executive from one team and various officials over the next few days.

[Guest]

Closest thing to news on this from today

 

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said Thursday that the club has interest in signing Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler.

 

Thursday was the deadline for teams to submit offers to Soler's agents, but Luhnow declined to say whether the Astros made a bid. "We continue to have interest in Soler and that's the most I can say right now," said Luhnow. "We're aware of the process and if there's anything report, we will let you all know." The Cubs are considered the heavy favorite to sign the 20-year-old outfielder, but the Red Sox, Pirates, Orioles, Phillies, and White Sox have also been mentioned as possible landing spots. Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Thursday that the Marlins are not in the mix.

[Clem Fandango]

I'm gonna be some kind of mad if we don't land him

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm gonna be some kind of mad if we don't land him

 

At this point it would be unacceptable. They spent no money in free agency, landed no big targets, can't spend big on the draft and pretty much put their eggs in this basket.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm gonna be some kind of mad if we don't land him

 

At this point it would be unacceptable. They spent no money in free agency, landed no big targets, can't spend big on the draft and pretty much put their eggs in this basket.

 

Even when they do sign him, unless it's all signing bonus, I'm going to wonder where a lot of the baseball budget went. There's a lot missing.

[davell]

I'm guessing the new Dominican facility is included this year. That's 10-12 mill anyway. Even then, it's still short.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm gonna be some kind of mad if we don't land him

 

At this point it would be unacceptable. They spent no money in free agency, landed no big targets, can't spend big on the draft and pretty much put their eggs in this basket.

 

Even when they do sign him, unless it's all signing bonus, I'm going to wonder where a lot of the baseball budget went. There's a lot missing.

 

It all went into the hookers and blow fund set-up for the recruiting process.

 

Sin to Win!!!

[wvcbxl]

Maybe yet another twist: Jorge Soler May Be Using Haitian Papers

[davell]

Yeah, that's pretty scary and I have no clue why Paver would lead him down that path. Something else worth mentioning though, is Armando Rivero and Omar Luis also became eligible to sign, the same time as Soler did. Rivero is a 23 year old righty, who throws up to 98 and profiles as a potential closer. Luis is a 19 year old stocky lefty that can hit 93 and has back end of the rotation possibilities. My guess is neither gets Concepcion money, but both get multi million dollar deals.

[Guest]

That seems pretty straight forward to me. The article mentions multiple sources talking about the difficulty of getting residency in the DR, and the delay in getting Soler residency speaks to that. So it appears they couldn't make that work and went to Haiti instead. If there were something more nefarious involved(and aside from age or maybe that he committed a crime, I don't know what else could be an issue), I would guess they'd go straight to Haiti and the process doesn't take the additional months that it has taken.

[Guest]

That seems pretty straight forward to me. The article mentions multiple sources talking about the difficulty of getting residency in the DR, and the delay in getting Soler residency speaks to that. So it appears they couldn't make that work and went to Haiti instead. If there were something more nefarious involved(and aside from age or maybe that he committed a crime, I don't know what else could be an issue), I would guess they'd go straight to Haiti and the process doesn't take the additional months that it has taken.

Yeah it was done to speed up the process and get him signed before July 2nd.