Monday, June 11, 2012

Soler! And there was much rejoicing.

Joel Sherman and Ken Rosenthal as both reporting that the Cubs have won the bidding for Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler.  He became a free agent just last week and the Cubs were supposedly competing with the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Yankees and Braves for his services.

The 19 year old is still likely 2 or more years away from being in a big league uniform, but this was the guy the Cubs seemed to have wanted to target, and it appears they have gotten him.

More on this as information becomes available.

UPDATE:

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports is reporting that the deal is for 9, yes 9, years and at least $30 million.


UPDATE 2:

Keith Law is reporting the Soler will have an opt-out clause in his contract which will allow him to go through the normal MLB arbitration process.

The 9 years and the $30 million and the opt-out...

I'm pretty cool with all this.  It is low risk and very high reward.  This is a really good deal...and the last deal of this sort that we'll see for an international free-agent due to the new rules that will be in place with the new collective bargaining agreement.

The Cubs stepped up and got their man.