I thought it worthwhile to have a centralized place for us to play the waiting game today, as we await 20-year-old Cuban prospect Jorge Soler’s final (final) decision on which team he’ll be signing with for an exorbitant amount of money.
The decision is expected by all sides to come at some point today (UPDATE: Buster Olney was just on the radio saying we might not hear for another 48 to 72 hours … you must be pulling my leg), and the Cubs are still a teeny, tiny favorite, but by no means prohibitive. The teams thought to be most involved at this point are the Cubs, Yankees, Dodgers, and Braves, with the Cubs and Yankees believed to be the biggest bidders. As of this moment (10:17 am CT), no one seems to know anything more than that with any kind of real certainty.
My guess? He’s traveling to the site of a press conference as we speak. (Per that previous update, maybe not.)
So, we wait. Unleash the obsession in the comments, if you’d like. And if you hear anything, drop it in there as well. The waiting is the hardest part, but it can also be the most exciting and fun.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Tim Brown says the Dodgers are out.
MOSTLY NON-UPDATE: Jon Heyman says other execs still think the Cubs are the favorite, but he’s not committing to anything. So, yeah, mostly a non-update.
OK, NOW HERE’S AN UPDATE: Joel Sherman, who was the first to note that Theo Epstein to the Cubs could actually happen, says he’s heard the Cubs won the bidding. Squeee…. wait. Wait for it.
A REINFORCING UPDATE: Kevin Goldstein cites a source who told him last night that he didn’t think the Cubs had a “choke point” on Soler, and would keep one-upping all bids until they got him. If so, the price could be mighty steep.
Jim Salisbury @JSalisburyCSN
Word is Phillies have maintained stealth pursuit of Soler. Have made offer, but Cubs, Yanks are favorites. #PhilliesTalk
Retweeted by MLB Trade Rumors
Ugh.
The New York Post’s Joel Sherman reporting Cubs won.
@Joelsherman1: I hear the #Cubs won out for Jorge Soler. #Yankees tried, but didn’t get him.
Joel Sherman on twitter: I hear the Cubs won out on Soler, Yankees tried, but didnt get him.
That makes me very happy. Provided that this is legit. I still want to wait until this is official. No use getting excited then being disappointed after the official report says something different.
Yes!
Ohmanohmanohman
Joel had better not be f-ing with me…
Please, please please. THEO, CONFIRMATION NOW!!!!
There we go Theo! Taking the route I told you take when you called me!
Oh, shut up, Jim!
Yes, haven’t you done enough already?
I am being so productive right now by breaking my work into 5 minute segments, between the time when I hit refresh on this page.
No doubt my productivity at work will increase once I stop clicking refresh ever few minutes and reading each new comment; but I wont be distracted by a Cubs losing again tomorrow morning so it is a fair trade-off
Oh boy oh boy!!! This is going to be great!!!
I think they wanted him…
Kevin Goldstein @Kevin_Goldstein
Source told me last night that he didn’t think the Cubs had a ”choke point” on Soler, and would one-up any bid until he was theirs.
You’re killing me.
Why do I feel like having a Howard Dean moment? “First we’re going to get Rizzo…then we’re going to get Almora…then we’re going to get Soler…then (a bunch of other stuff), then we’re going to the World Series! YEEEAAARRRGH!”
Mlbtraderumors has posted the Cubs won the bidding…squeal
I think they’re reporting what Joel Sherman said, not sure if they confirmed it.
Not yet. They made an assumption based on the Joel Sherman quote. Need to be careful of all these sites referencing the same piece of opinion and repeating it with their own twist.
Yall just gotta ruin the squeal haha. But makes sense..
Commence squealing…
MLB Trade Rumors @mlbtraderumors
Cubs Win Bidding For Jorge Soler http://bit.ly/LRLlfu #mlb
Same as I said above: They made an assumption based on the Joel Sherman quote. Need to be careful of all these sites referencing the same piece of opinion and repeating it with their own twist.
I’m with holding a squeal until a few DIFFERENT Sources confirm it.
Didn’t we all hear the Cubs signed him months ago, when he wasn’t a Free Agent?
Cubs win bid!! Soler is ours
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/06/cubs-win-bidding-for-jorge-soler.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
MLB Trade Rumors is just reporting off the Sherman tweet.
EXCLUSIVE: Transcript of Cubs’ Front Office Meeting re: Jorge Soler
Theo: I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part!
Jed: We’re just the guys to do it.
Ricketts: [stands up] Yeah, I agree. Let’s go get him!
They just cant win huh
MLBtraderumors.com is saying Cubs won bidding
MLBTradeRumors has that Cubs won the bidding!!!!
So far we’ve only seen one report be sputtered out by multiple different news outlets. Let’s wait until Sherman’s report can be confirmed.
Rosenthal. Perfect. Celebrate.
feeling better…still based on Sherman, but I like the word “confirmed”…
Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal
Confirmed: #Cubs sign Soler. First reported by @Joelsherman1.
Ken Rosenthal confirms Cubs signed Jorge Soler.
670 The Score just reported that the Cubs have come to terms Soler. No details yet on contract terms, but Bernstein just read the report on-air.
If it’s true, where does he start?
I trust Rosenthal putting his name on it as well, most exciting off-day.. ever?
Rosenthal is now confirming the signing!!!
Bruce Miles has also confirmed that he has an independent source who has confirmed the signing.
Here we go. Multiple other sources confirming. It may be squeal time!
woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo x10^23
Not counting my chickens yet…but if it is true then Theo and Jed did pull off something pretty amazing in getting 2 out of the 3 big Cuban signings this year. Back in January I wouldn’t have given it much chance to get both Soler and Concepcion.
And they ended up landing the two that, IMO, were most desirable based on the team’s window of competitiveness.
$30 million? Yes. Please. Finally something to be excited about, still a couple years away, but it is good to see the Cubs BEAT somebody