It was only a matter of time. A very speculative rumor put out there by Tribune Dave Van Dyck has just been refuted by CSN's David Kaplan. I was very skeptical of the rumor from the start, but this pretty much seals the deal for me on that.
The article isn't all bad news. Here are some of the main points...
- The Cubs are one of the main contenders for Soler along with the Yankees, Phillies, Rangers, and Marlins. Some heavy hitters in that group.
- The idea that the Cubs are offering a 3-4 year deal for $27.5M is "ludicrous". The Cubs want more years since Soler is still a pretty raw player and will need some time. The dollar figure, however, is plausible.
- Soler is good friends with Cubs recent signee Gerardo Concepcion. We pointed out earlier that he was a teammate of another Cubs Cuban signee, Yasiel Balaguer. The Cubs look like they'll be able to offer a comfortable landing place for him.
- He also confirms speculation that the Cubs hang-up with Yoenis Cespedes wasn't the money, but rather the years and ability to become a free agent so quickly.
Filed under: Cubs Rumors, International players
Tags: Jorge Soler
Money being equal, I think the Cubs having so many Cuban
players, including some of his friends, might be a big help.
Agreed, money is still king, but having friends and teammates in the fold certainly can't hurt.
Since Kaplan's Garza rumor flamed out and he's taken much ribbing by other guests that Soriano hasn't been traded he's been notably toned down. I call it muzzled. Its possible his feelings are hurt that he's no longer plugged in as in past Henry regime.
Kap is still very connected. Certainly more so, it would seem, than Dave Van Dyck, who started this whole rumor. Goldstein is connected but he spoke in terms of "believing" this was true, but didn't seem to have a true source on this one. I have to go with Kaplan on this.
The difference now isn't so much with Kaplan in my opinion. It's with the way Theo and Jed operate. Hendry was honest to a fault at times, while Theo and Jed are more likely to engage in some misdirection.
And sometimes, rumors are true at the time and they fall though. I heard some stuff on Soriano as well and the Cubs were trying hard to deal him, they even engaged a few AL teams -- it just didn't happen.
I WANT THE RUMOR TO BE TWUUUUE!! I heart young Cubans!
If ithe rumored deal comes to fruition perhaps John/Tom can entitle the blog entry: "It's twuue, it's twuue!" for Mel Brooks, George Harrison and us.
Ha! Love a good Blazing Saddles reference! One of my all time favorite movies. Madeline Kahn was a comic genius. Can't watch Marlene Deitrich anymore without thinking of Kahn.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Absolutely not.
Rumors have always been a big part of baseball, but half-trues and
make believe rumors should not be.
Agree. Impossible to say. I tend to trust Kaplan, but it's possible Cubs could be trying to draw attention away from this too. At any rate, we're all left to wait until something official comes out.
Wow.. Now Buster Olney has the Yankees in big on Soler. I'm really getting tired of this offseason. In some circumstances, this has been a brutal offseason.
Between the new CBA, the Theo compensation, the Prince rumors, the Garza trade rumors, to the Cuban players rumors, this has been a rough and long offseason. I'm looking forward to watching baseball and leaving this offseason behind.
Agree, let start spring training with only those players that
should be there and clean up any 40-man roster issues
Yup.. Let's get the season started and put this winter to bed.
No kidding. I'm ready for some real baseball to start.
Until I see the beautiful sentence that says "Sources have confirmed" Im not doing anymore back flips. I'm getting to old for this shit lol
I agree. I'm getting too old and too tired of this shit too.
I understand that technology gets us information faster, but nowadays some of these beat writers and columnists would rather be first than be accurate. There has been a lot of irresponsible journalism this offseason.
I'm looking forward to hearing about the play on the field.
LOL! Agreed.
Well, looks like I was right about the years being too short.. Still think the dollar amount is high for a 19 year old unknown unless they get in a bidding war.
How can anyone be tired of this off season?? This is a breath of fresh air I've been hoping for, for about 20 years. Baseball is truely a year round sport, the off season is very often as interesting as the regular season in my opinion. Get this kid signed and lets start planning for the draft!
I'm just tired of everything dragging out or not happening at all, but you're right, with Theo & Co., the direction the team appears to have taken has been a breath of fresh air.
Much-needed air. C'mon Soler!
Agreed in that I think the offseason as a whole has been fun, but sometimes the drama is a bit much. A lot of people pushing to get the first scoop and sometimes it gets hard to sort speculation from legitimate rumor.
It's easy to be tired of this off season.
I agree that having Theo, Jed and Jason come on board is a breath of fresh air. It's great to have a front office with a plan. That's not where the issue lies.
I'm all for some good rumors, but the irresponsible "journalism" has dragged out credible rumors and turned it into gossip. I used to work in the TV news industry, back when news networks used to have to verify a story before they ran it. Now with all the competition in cable news and the internet, journalists have run fast and loose with their stories. VanD should have done a better job in verifying the Soler agreement before he ran with it. Now you have articles being written about the Cubs violating MLB rules by signing Soler before he becomes a free agent.
I'm not even going to get into Cafardo and the garbage he spews about the Theo compensation a couple of times a week.
Pitchers and catchers report this weekend and the season starts in a month and a half. It's time to focus on the on field activity and less of the off the field stuff.
EDIT - I shouldn't have said that Soler signed with the Cubs at he end of the third paragraph. I meant to say "agreeing with Soler.before he becomes a free agent."
I totally agree it has been a great off season, I'm just tired of bad reporting.
I third the great off season, bad reporting sentiment. At best it's a rush to be first, at worst it's reporters turning their hunches into unnamed sources.
That's why I only come here for my Cubs news. I'd keep John on my shoulder if I could... but that way pirate madness lies.
I guess I fourth'ed it (new word!) Didn't realize both you and johnnywest said the same thing!
A little disappointing to here this, i was really hoping that this was the one right rumor we hear. I just hope that we can sign this kid
lol@fourth'ed it
Personally, I consider Kaplan the Cubs Nick Cafardo. He's a mouthpiece and will say whatever they feed him. You know how secretive this Cubs front office is. They like to play everything as close to the vest as possible. If Kaplan says something is not true while a lot of other reputable sources are saying it is, it's just the Cubs way of trying to keep a lid on things. Soler's a Cub.
Boy, I hope I'm right....
I hope you're right about Soler as well, though I suppose he can't officially be a Cub until he's a FA and he becomes unblocked.
Although I consider Kaplan to be a good source , I think the Cubs are more likely than not to sign Soler. I don't think it's a done deal like some have said, but I think the Cubs are the clear favorites. I would be surprised if the Cubs didn't sign Soler soon.
I think they're the favorites, there are some who think some sort of handshake agreement is in place- and that's certainly possible, I suppose. But I'm not going to relax about it until it's confirmed by reliable sources...though like ChiRy pointed out, at this point we'll all likely be very disappointed if they don't.