The Chicago Cubs Are Now Soler Powered

Great coup for Theo.

I'm curious to see where he'll be assigned. He'd make a great one-two punch along with Baez in Peoria's lineup.

Cubs Win Bidding For Jorge Soler
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [June 11, 2012 at 1:48pm CST]
1:48pm: Soler and the Cubs agreed to a nine-year deal worth approximately $30MM, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. At least three or four teams placed bids of $20MM plus, according to Heyman. Depending on how long Soler spends at the minor league level, the deal could cover all of his arbitration seasons and multiple free agent years.

1:15pm: The Cubs won the bidding for Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (on Twitter). Many teams appeared to have interest in Soler, a top international prospect.

Soler has to sign by July 2 if he aims to maximize his earning potential and avoid spending restrictions imposed under baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement. It's not clear what kind of bonus the Praver Shapiro Sports Management client will obtain from the Cubs, but a sum in excess of $15MM would not be surprising.

MLB declared Soler a free agent earlier this month after verifying his paperwork. The Phillies have since offered him a contract and the Astros, Pirates, Indians, Red Sox, Yankees and Blue Jays also appeared to have some level of interest in the 20-year-old.

Soler was an up-and-coming power hitter in Cuba before leaving the country, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. His calling card is right-handed power, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America, who considers him a top-50 prospect in MLB.

Here is BA's scouting report, for those unaware of him (1/30/12):

Jorge Soler, of

When Alexei Ramirez defected from Cuba and signed with the White Sox in 2008, his skill level was advanced enough to jump straight to the big leagues. While Cespedes fits into a similar mold in terms of timetable (though there's some thought he may need a minor league tune-up), Soler is still a prospect who will need a few years to develop in the minors. He'll take longer to get there, but he's also one of the better young players Cuba has produced in recent years with the offensive potential to be an above-average right fielder.

Soler, a righthanded hitter who turns 20 on Feb. 25, excelled at the World Junior Championship in Thunder Bay, Ontario in August 2010. Soler and first baseman Guillermo Aviles were Cuba's top hitters for the 18-and-under team at Thunder Bay, where Soler hit .304/.500/.522 with nine walks (second most in the tournament) and only one strikeout in seven games. Soler, who is represented by Bart Hernandez, is in the Dominican Republic and does not have his residency yet.

Listed at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds at Thunder Bay, Soler stands out for his thick, physical build and strength. Power is Soler's best tool, as he shows great bat speed, the ability to hit balls out to all fields and the potential to hit 25 home runs per year. While scouts like his power and some like his swing, he bars his front arm and the stiffness in his stroke is a concern for some scouts. Scouts have offered differing opinions on his ability to hit breaking balls, but he has a history of laying off pitches outside the strike zone in international competition and has more on-base potential than Cespedes.

Soler is athletic for his size and there are reports of him running the 60-yard dash in 6.5 seconds—a time that grades out as well above-average speed—but several scouts have said he's really an average runner at best, running better underway than down the line. Soler was a tall, slender guy back in 2008 when he played third base for Cuba at the 16U COPABE Pan American Championships in Mexico, but he's blown up physically since then. Depending on how much bigger he gets, there's a chance he could end up at first base down the road, but he should be able to handle right field for the near future. Scouts are mixed on his outfield instincts but he does have an above-average arm. He would likely begin his career at one of the Class A levels.

Love it! Figured Theo would spend whatever to make sure we wouldn't lose him

Wow 15 million. I really hope this guys pans out.
Oh and I'm surprised they have the money. With Soriano hitting but still is bothered by leg issues and Dempster now seems to be winning both of those guys will be gone soon and the cubs will have to eat most of that money for years to come. I wonder where they found the money to spend.

was this like the worst kept secret?


i dont think there was ever a time he wasnt going to be a cub...

phillyfan0417 said:

was this like the worst kept secret?


i dont think there was ever a time he wasnt going to be a cub...

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Here in Chicago there was talk of it for a few weeks but then it died down

Pine Tar said:

Wow 15 million. I really hope this guys pans out.
Oh and I'm surprised they have the money. With Soriano hitting but still is bothered by leg issues and Dempster now seems to be winning both of those guys will be gone soon and the cubs will have to eat most of that money for years to come. I wonder where they found the money to spend.

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Heyman reports it was $30M/9 years!

Pine Tar said:

Wow 15 million. I really hope this guys pans out.
Oh and I'm surprised they have the money. With Soriano hitting but still is bothered by leg issues and Dempster now seems to be winning both of those guys will be gone soon and the cubs will have to eat most of that money for years to come. I wonder where they found the money to spend.

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Isn't this the last year for Soriano's contract?

Remind me why MLB Draft needed to be changed? Soler is not in the same class as many top draft picks esp. If hit tool is the ?, but he gets more money?

Junior Griffey said:

Isn't this the last year for Soriano's contract?

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2 more years I believe.

Not to mention that they grabbed a high ceiling pick in the draft in Almora

gonzagacubs said:

2 more years I believe.

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Including this year, 3 more years at $18MM per

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/soriaal01.shtml#contracts

Plenty of risk involved but when the contract is spread out over 9 years it is worth it. I'd have to wonder how long it will take him to get back up to speed especially after sitting out a whole year.

Exposfan said:

Remind me why MLB Draft needed to be changed? Soler is not in the same class as many top draft picks esp. If hit tool is the ?, but he gets more money?

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The cap on the international market is coming on 7/2. Soler was the last commodity on the market before international bonuses are regulated just like the mlb draft bonuses were regulated. Many figured that this would help him get a higher bonus, just like his country mate Gernado Conception.

Too bad he has no cards. I'll get on the horn with Topps and give him a glowing recommendation. Maybe he can be a late addition to 2012 BC as an auto.

Zymco said:

The cap on the international market is coming on 7/2. Soler was the last commodity on the market before international bonuses are regulated just like the mlb draft bonuses were regulated. Many figured that this would help him get a higher bonus, just like his country mate Gernado Conception.

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I am aware of that, but I haven't seen the uprising over contracts similar to this and prior contracts to Cuba players , like there was against the MLB Draft signings supposedly getting out of contrtol so much they needed the hard slotting this year.

Exposfan said:

Soler is not in the same class as many top draft picks esp. If hit tool is the ?, but he gets more money?

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KLaw just posted about him --

"Had Soler been in this year's draft, he would probably have been a top-five pick on merit, definitely top 10.".

Jaypers said:

KLaw just posted about him --

"Had Soler been in this year's draft, he would probably have been a top-five pick on merit, definitely top 10.".

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That's fine, and he received a larger bonus than each and every one of those picks.

Exposfan said:

That's fine, and he received a larger bonus than each and every one of those picks.

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Ya essentially the Cubs bought a top 5 draft pick. With Dempster and Zambrano's contracts over after this year, the Cubs can afford to spend as much money as needed to bring in new talent, especially with the new draft rules.

Cubs can use all the talent and assets they can get their hands on. Hopefully this kid develops into a good MLBer.