Your up-to-the-moment latest on 20-year-old Cuban prospect Jorge Soler:
- An “industry source” tells the New York Post that Soler is expected to agree to a deal before tomorrow. The Post calls it a “four-year deal,” which I am assuming means a typical four-year deal for a prospect (i.e., he gets paid over four years, and is put on the 40-man roster, but he is *not* guaranteed free agency at the end of the deal – the team still gets its six years of big league control). The Post goes on to suggest that Soler could be a replacement for Nick Swisher should he leave this offseason via free agency, which is extremely optimistic on Soler’s development time line.
- Buster Olney says Soler’s reps are calling contenders right now and asking to confirm that their final bids are, in fact, final. So there was an opening round of bids, a second round of bids, and now a “are you sure you don’t want to top Team X’s bid” round of bids. He’s gonna get every last penny.
- Buster adds that the Yankees are said to have “bid heavy,” but that other teams view the Cubs as the favorite.
- Ken Rosenthal hears from an exec that Theo “won’t allow the Cubs to lose” on Soler.
- I tentatively expect that we’ll hear something on this later today/tonight.
- My take? I’d say the Cubs remain the most likely destination of all the teams, but I wouldn’t say the Cubs are more likely than not to get him. I’d give the Cubs a 1/3 chance, which would be the best odds I’d give any team. Does that comfort or alarm you?
A couple mid-day updates:
- Jon Heyman has also heard that a decision will come down in the next 24 to 36 hours.
- Olney just added that Soler’s agents have told teams they have their final chance to make/increase bids by tonight. If it plays out that way, I’d expect word to leak maybe late tonight/early tomorrow, and then a formal announcement on his decision tomorrow. No word yet on whether The Decision will be broadcast on ESPN.
