THE JORGE SOLER TRADE THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAPPEN

Disclaimer: This is purely speculation and wishful thinking on my part. A friend from a Yankees Facebook group, Scott, would be the happiest man alive if this happened! So this one's for you Scott!

The Cubbies appear to be the favorite to sign Dexter Fowler and after already signing Jason Heyward this off season, a Fowler signing would create a backlog of outfielders on the Cubs roster. Also with one of their top prospects, Albert Almora, who is a defensive stud in centerfield and not far from the Big's, Jorge Soler might not have an everyday position.

So should Brian Cashman make a couple phone calls and see if he can get a hold of Theo Epstein? I say yes. Soler would fit the bill of the youth movement and has a very high ceiling.

Soler will be just 24 when the season begins and has some serious power potential in his bat. Some speculate he could be a 30 home run guy. His downfall is he is not seen as a great defensive player. But if you can hit 30 home runs, an improvement from just 10 in 2015 over 366 at-bats, a couple defensive miscues can be overlooked.

The problem is the Yankees have a ton of money invested in their outfield right now and not much young controllable pitching they are willing to part with. Andrew Miller would likely be the leading candidate Cashman would try and sell.

Besides Miller, Gardner has been a topic of trades as we all know, but the Cubbies would be looking to deal an outfielder, not acquire one.

A three team trade could be plausible and the Rays have reportedly been in contact with the Cubs discussing a starting pitcher for Soler or infielder Javier Baez. Crazier things have happened.

Realistically it would be very difficult to get this deal done at least from a perspective outside of the organization. Obviously Cashman and Hal know better than me.

This is likely just a pipe dream really, but who doesn't enjoy one of those once in a while?

The Yankees seem content on standing pat for the meantime and as much as some of you despise it, I don't. They need to wait until after the 2016 season and 2017 season, free up some payroll, continue getting younger and start filling in the pieces.

So maybe a miracle happens, maybe not. Either way speculation is fun and even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally.

We shall see!


 --Dan Lucia
BYB Senior Writer
Twitter: @DManLucia








 
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