Anything New on Jorge Soler?

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Could the Orioles be one of the mystery teams? I think they are interested in him. The comments below are currently appearing on ESPN Insider.

Anything new on Soler? ESPN Insider

1:21PM ET

Jorge Soler

The last we heard on Jorge Soler is that the Houston Astros were keeping tabs on the Cuban outfielder and that the Boston Red Sox were very much interested in the prospect.

The Chicago Cubs are expected to be an aggressive bidder, and Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune wrote earlier this month that the White Sox could outbid the Cubs, and any other bidder.

Previously, Miami Marlins president David Samson said in a radio interview his team is not interested in Soler, as per a tweet from MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.

The Cleveland Indians have worked out Soler on a number of occasions, tweeted Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer and Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports tweeted several weeks ago that the Yankees and Phillies were the two teams at the time that have been the most aggressive on Soler.

Phillies GM Ruben Aramo confirms his club's interest.

The Toronto Blue Jays are in the mix, too,reported Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com.

Considering the way things went down with Cespedes -- he signed with Oakland out of nowhere after the general belief was that the Miami Marlins were the heavy favorites -- anything can happen, including a mystery team or two. We have to believe, however, that with March looming -- and minor league camp opening soon -- that Soler will sign soon.

Jason A. Churchill

[BrunoCherrytown]

It has been eerily quiet on Soler.

I'm guessing his demands are too high, or the offers are coming in way too low now, and his agents are slow playing it. We had the Chicago Tribune saying the Cubs signed him for what like $29 million 3 weeks ago and then nothing comes of that? And we haven't heard anything since besides the O's seeing him workout.

I doubt we sign him, but the silence can only be a positive. There are no rumors anywhere with this kid.

[atomic]

Is he even eligible to sign yet? I think there is much less than 1 percent chance he signs with the Orioles. First other teams are interested. Second the Orioles are probably up to their budget limit. Did you see they traded guthrie to save a couple million?

[canonfaz]

Is he even eligible to sign yet?

Why would we let a minor detail like this hinder us? Sign the man. Just don't get banned from the country while doing it.

[Camden_yardbird]

I would think if the Orioles had serious interest in him that they would be named. I mean every team in the league is named.

[RZNJ]

The last time the Orioles won a public bidding war on a top rated amateur talent? NEVER. They weren't willing to go 3-4 million on Sano. I don't know why they would be going a lot more than that on Soler. The O's are still bargain hunters. Soler isn't a bargain.

[Stotle]

He's still not free agent eligible. I assume there is a push for him to get things sorted out before July 2nd, when the international spending caps kick in. But no guarantee he signs anytime soon.

[allstar1579]

The last time the Orioles won a public bidding war on a top rated amateur talent? NEVER. They weren't willing to go 3-4 million on Sano. I don't know why they would be going a lot more than that on Soler. The O's are still bargain hunters. Soler isn't a bargain.

It's funny how I got slammed by some people because I was ready to go $4-5M for Sano because he was too much risk for the money. Yet people want to throw $40M over 5 years for Cespedes, and who knows how much on Soler. Sano was a bargain compared to these guys and is one of the top power hitting prospects in the minors now.

[Tony-OH]

The last time the Orioles won a public bidding war on a top rated amateur talent? NEVER. They weren't willing to go 3-4 million on Sano. I don't know why they would be going a lot more than that on Soler. The O's are still bargain hunters. Soler isn't a bargain.

Beat me to it. Even though the Orioles have shown a willingness to spend on the International market (Koji, Chen and Wada), they are never in it once their is actual competition. The only reason the Orioles ended up with Chen was because most teams got scared off by his drop in velocity last year.

[LookinUp]

He's still not free agent eligible. I assume there is a push for him to get things sorted out before July 2nd, when the international spending caps kick in. But no guarantee he signs anytime soon.

His price already seems to be pretty high. If the rumors of the Cubs offer are true, I wouldn't play another inning of pro ball before I signed, if I were him. That might add a small amount of urgency to the process.

[olehippi]

The last time the Orioles won a public bidding war on a top rated amateur talent? NEVER. They weren't willing to go 3-4 million on Sano. I don't know why they would be going a lot more than that on Soler. The O's are still bargain hunters. Soler isn't a bargain.

I'm not sure the Orioles even qualify as bargain hunters. They're more like "garbage scourers"....always scraping the bottom of the barrel. I doubt anyone considers Soler as either a bargain, or garbage.

[BillySmith]

Where would Soler slot in our top prospects list? I would think at 3 or 4. It would be nice to have Bundy, Machado, Schoop and Soler all coming up about the same time.

[TheBee]

Where would Soler slot in our top prospects list? I would think at 3 or 4. It would be nice to have Bundy, Machado, Schoop and Soler all coming up about the same time.

Baseball America has said Soler is the equivalent of a top 5 draft pick. That's exactly how I view him...an opportunity to buy an extra top five pick. Will we have to overpay for that extra top five pick that is coming via an international free agent market which will be forever changing soon? Yes. Is it worth it to infuse an additional talent like this into the system now? I believe it is. Obviously, we don't know what the actual numbers will be yet, but I would hope we'd be very aggressive. I don't think we will be, however. A lot of raw power in this young man.

[allstar1579]

Baseball America has said Soler is the equivalent of a top 5 draft pick. That's exactly how I view him...an opportunity to buy an extra top five pick. Will we have to overpay for that extra top five pick that is coming via an international free agent market which will be forever changing soon? Yes. Is it worth it to infuse an additional talent like this into the system now? I believe it is. Obviously, we don't know what the actual numbers will be yet, but I would hope we'd be very aggressive. I don't think we will be, however. A lot of raw power in this young man.

Don't know if I really agree with them. I thought a lot of his value was in that he was the last of the guys you could sign with no penalty. Not a fan at a large amount of money.

[Say O!]

Baseball America has said Soler is the equivalent of a top 5 draft pick. That's exactly how I view him...an opportunity to buy an extra top five pick. Will we have to overpay for that extra top five pick that is coming via an international free agent market which will be forever changing soon? Yes. Is it worth it to infuse an additional talent like this into the system now? I believe it is. Obviously, we don't know what the actual numbers will be yet, but I would hope we'd be very aggressive. I don't think we will be, however. A lot of raw power in this young man.

What top 5 draft pick has ever signed for a $30M guaranteed contract?

You gotta admit the risk/return dynamics are no where as favorable as the draft guys.