Yesterday much of the Major League Baseball buzz surrounded Cuban prospect Yoenis Cespedes. A day later that focus could shift to another Cuban native, teenager Jorge Soler. It was reported yesterday that the Cubs have set their sights on Soler, and Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus tweeted late last night that he believes Chicago has a deal in place for the 19-year-old.
It may seem like days ago, but as recently as Monday morning it was being reported that the Marlins were the favorite to land Yoenis Cespedes. With that news came the announcement that the Cubs had shifted their attention to outfielder Jorge Soler, another highly-coveted Cuban defector.
Joe Frisaro of MLB.com said yesterday that the Cubs appeared set to make a serious run at Soler. Reports had the club willing to spend as much as $27.5 million on the prospect, which isn’t much less than the $36 million the Oakland A’s gave Cespedes.
Following this report and the announcement of Cespedes’s signing, Frisaro came back and tweeted that we shouldn’t expect the Marlins to be in the mix for Soler. It was also reported that the Orioles are still making a trip to the Dominican Republic this weekend to scout several Cuban players including Soler.
Then, late last night, Kevin Goldstein tweeted that he believes the Cubs and Soler have agreed to a deal. The only thing that would be holding up an announcement is that Soler cannot officially sign yet, as Major League Baseball hasn’t declared him a free agent.
So, with that being said, do you think Soler has a handshake agreement with the Cubs or is he still likely to sign with another team?
For more on the Cubs, be sure to check out Cubbies Crib.
You can follow Call to the Pen on Twitter at @FSCalltothePen or like us here on Facebook.
You can check out all of the available free agents by position below.