On February 13, the Chicago Tribune published an article with the following headline:
Blue Jays, Orioles, Everyone Else Joining Jorge Soler Derby
Cubs expected to add Cuban outfielder Soler
And that was that. We dusted our hands off, started to type, then looked for the next newly discovered international prospect to burden with our hopes and expectations. But after the deal with the Cubs was supposedly done, more and more teams joined the mix. First it was the Yankees, then the Phillies were in. The Marlins were in before they weren't.
On Wednesday morning, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos and members of his front office watched the 19-year-old Soler -- along with Cuban pitcher Armando Rivero, outfielder Henry Urrutia and left-handed pitcher Omar Luis -- work out at the club’s complex in Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic, according to an industry source. The Orioles are scheduled to visit Soler in the Dominican Republic on Sunday, the source added.According to the Ken Rosenthal article linked up there, scouts are comparing Soler’s power to Mike Stanton, which seems impressive until you remember that Stanton was a pure average hitter who had only one double in his career.
There’s no rush to sign Soler, as it’s not as if a team is desperate to shove the 19-year-old into the starting lineup, so he can afford to play the market a bit. Heck, he’s technically not even a free agent yet. And with at least a fifth of the league buzzing around him, he could end up with a pretty sweet deal.
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