Jorge Soler is a 21 year-old right-handed outfielder standing 6'3-225. Born in Cuba, Soler defected in 2011, establishing residency in Haiti. On June 2, 2012, Soler was cleared by OFAC to become a free agent, and began negotiations with clubs to sign a contract. Soler was notable in that he was the last major international prospect to become available before …
2014 Contending Cubs, Part 2: Depth
We've taken a look at the 2014 Cubs Payroll as part of this series and we learned that it's unlikely the Cubs are going to have enough money to buy themselves a championship. They'll have about $25-35 million to spend this offseason, which is a considerable amount, but not large enough to sign multiple big-name free agents. In order to …
2014 Contending Cubs, Part 1: Payroll
I thought it was about time to take a more thorough look at the 2014 Cubs and eventually discuss ways in which they could contend. The first thing to look at is how much money the Cubs may have to spend, which means we need to know how much money they currently have on the books for 2014. Cots Contracts …
Cubs Midseason Top Prospects: Consensus Rankings
All of the major scouting outlets have published their midseason top prospects updates by now, which is good since the season is well over halfway through. I rounded up a bunch of them (from Baseball America, Bullpen Banter, Baseball Prospectus's Jason Parks, ESPN's Keith Law, and minorleagueball's John Sickels) and pulled the rankings for Cub prospects, including newly acquired 'spects Mike Olt …
John Sickels’ 2013 midseason top 75 prospects
Law came out with his earlier today and now it's John Sickels of Minor League Ball's turn. Below are the top Cubs prospects. 14. Javier Baez 18. Albert Almora 23. Jorge Soler 57. Arismendy Alcantara His list does not include 2013 draftees.
Keith Law’s 2013 midseason top 50 prospects
Keith Law has just published his top 50 prospects at the midway point of the 2013 season. The Cubs have a number of players in that list. 15. Kris Bryant 20. Jorge Soler 25. Albert Almora 27. Javier Baez One of the honorable mentions is Arismendy Alcantara That's a lot of talent in the minor leagues. Too bad Mark Appel …
What the hell am I missing? Can the Cubs contend in 2014 or 2015?
Over the last two or three days, I've read a few articles that have mentioned that the Cubs could contend as early as next season. I don't want to single anybody out, because I have a lot of respect for both of these writers. The first time I read it, I thought "what the hell?". The second time I read …
Javier Baez, John Andreoli and Jorge Soler are Florida State League All Stars
Javier Baez, John Andreoliand Jorge Soler each made the Florida State League All Star team for the North Division. NORTH DIVISION Catchers: Cameron Garfield, Brevard County (MIL); Logan Moore, Clearwater (PHI); Gary Sanchez, Tampa (NYY). Infielders: Carlos Alonso, Clearwater (PHI); Javier Baez, Daytona (CHC); Andy Burns, Dunedin (TOR); Maikel Franco, Clearwater (PHI); Dustin Geiger, Daytona (CHC); Nick Ramirez, Brevard County …
Cespedes, Darvish, and Puig, Oh My!*#&%!
Yoenis Cespedes hit two home runs for the A’s Tuesday night. Yasiel Puig hit two home runs for the Dodgers. Yu Darvish didn’t pitch, but no matter, he’s still on pace for 320+ strikeouts this year. The Cubs’ plan following the 2011 season was to make a run at a slew of international free agents. That started with Darvish, an Iranian-Japanese phenom …
JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 5-18-13
Tuscon Padres 4 @ Iowa Cubs 2 Chris Rusin threw 6.2 innings, allowed 5 hits and 4 runs. He walked 2 and struckout 3. He also hit a batter. Zack Putnam struckout the only batter he faced. Rafael Dolis gave up 2 hits and struck a batter out in an inning of work. Blake Parker pitched the 9th and allowed …