Phillies serious about Soler interest
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Phillies are definitely a serious player in the Jorge Soler sweepstakes.
Phillies serious about Soler interest
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Phillies are definitely a serious player in the Jorge Soler sweepstakes.
"Our scouts have seen him and we like him," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Thursday. "It may come down to where he wants to play and, of course, the money."
Exactly what it's going to take to sign the 19-year-old Cuban defector remains a mystery that cannot be solved until he actually is declared a free agent. All kinds of rumors have circulated about Soler's price tag. Earlier this week, an incorrect report surfaced that the Chicago Cubs were on the verge of signing Soler to a $27.5 million deal.
A baseball source said there is no way to know for sure when Soler will even become a free agent. There have been reports that the New York Yankees are also seriously pursuing Soler. The baseball source said the Phillies have remained in close contact with Soler and his agents since the young outfielder defected.
The source said he believes whenever Soler is declared a free agent that every team, including the Phillies, will be aware of what offer is being made by each team.
The Phillies' interest in Soler makes sense because the farm system's biggest weakness is in quality position players. The system has been depleted in recent years because of trades that have sent some of the team's best minor-league prospects elsewhere for players like Joe Blanton, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence.
At 19, Soler will likely spend considerable time in the minor leagues regardless of what team signs him.
Don't overpay, but this is one way to resupply the farm system.— 76er- When have I heard that before? — PhightinPhil
- So he is 19 huh. How much you wanna bet we find out he was actually 22 three years or so down the road. I think they count in dog years or something down there.— eaglessuperfan
- Yes. In 3 years, a 19 year old will be 22 years old — logicandreason
- When, or if he is found to have lied about his age, I'm pretty sure his contract will have made the necessary provisions regarding truthfulness...
— Phiggles - Would be a good move for the Phillies they say he has a real good chance of being better then cespedes he is just a little further away to the big leagues can never have enough 5 tool players phillies need to get younger anyway— PhillyFran75
- Ruben Nickels Amaro— FABER
- what? — franky
- FABER...are you calling Amaro nickles because he is cheap? You do know the Phillies have a top 5 payroll, right? Maybe i'm missing something. Does he have an extensive nickel collection?— annad
- EHOUGH ALREADY with the freakin' speaker blow-up auto-commercials!You guys want us to keep coming to this site- STOP them and come up with a different way to generate revenue!~— GNIKGNARLY
- Use a browser other than IE, like Chrome, and then mute the sound in your Philly.com profile.
- I use Chrome, been using it for a while, the mute option isn't working. — FatEagle
- Use both FlashBlock and AdBlock plugins on Firefox and you can control when and where you listen/watch those ads. — raltman
- So who declares the kid a FA and when is that expected?— PhillySubsMac
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