NEWSLETTER
If you’re just catching up, Chicago Cubs prospect Jorge Soler got into some trouble last night after dashing out of his dugout toward the opponent dugout with a bat in hand. The details of the incident are here and here, so I won’t re-hash them.
Today, the Florida State League suspended Soler for five games (per Jesse Rogers), which is definitely on the lighter side for what I would have expected. It’s possible the Cubs will levy additional punishment, but it’s also possible that, when everyone examined exactly what happened – and not what was written third and fourth-hand about it – cooler heads decided that it was a serious, but not grievous offense.
Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein is addressing the media about the incident, and said media is Tweeting feverishly. Here’s a quick summary of Theo’s comments:
Theo: "We condemn the act but support the player (Soler)." #Cubs
— Bruce Miles (@BruceMiles2112) April 11, 2013
Theo says FSL will hand down punishment today for Soler, and #Cubs and Soler accept it
— Bruce Miles (@BruceMiles2112) April 11, 2013
Theo Epstein said that Jorge Soler was very apologetic about last night's incident and will accept the forthcoming punishment
— David Schuster (@Schumouse) April 11, 2013
Epstein said that the Cubs will wait to hear about the league's punishment before deciding on any possible additional action
— David Schuster (@Schumouse) April 11, 2013
Theo Epstein told reporters prospect Jorge Soler went after Class A opponents with a bat after a player on other team ragged on his family.
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) April 11, 2013
Theo: "Jorge is tremendously remorseful about what happened. He understands what he did was wrong." #Cubs
— Jordan Bernfield (@JordanBernfield) April 11, 2013
Theo said Soler didn't swing a bat at anyone, that after charging out of the dugout Frank Del Valle got to him to diffuse situation. #Cubs
— Jordan Bernfield (@JordanBernfield) April 11, 2013
All in all, it sounds like what you were hoping to hear today. The young man screwed up badly, and he’s going to be punished for it. From there, we move on and hope nothing even resembling it happens again.
UPDATE: Gordon Wittenmyer says that although Soler was also fined an undisclosed amount by the FSL, no additional punishment is forthcoming from the Cubs. There’s your additional evidence that this probably wasn’t as big of a deal as it originally sounded, and the Cubs genuinely believe this is an out-of-character, probably-not-ever-going-to-happen-again kind of thing. Also: don’t talk about a guy’s family. Just don’t.
