AND THE JORGE SOLER SWEEPSTAKES BEGIN...

OK...so here we go. It's official and much like Yu Darvish and Yoenis Cespedes, our buddy Jorge Soler is now a free agent.  Don't forget, back in the winter, the Yankees were indeed connected to Soler. Read that HERE.  Later on, it was revealed that because the Yankees wanted to keep costs down, Soler may in fact NOT be in the cards.  Then of course today, Dan Martin of the New York Post states that the Yankees are instead still interested.  Read HERE. Here is what Martin wrote about the situation:

 "The Yankees are interested in 20-year-old Cuban defector Jorge Soler, a source confirmed. During the winter, scouts expected the 6-foot-3, 205-pound outfielder to draw a deal worth approximately five years for $15 million after Yoenis Cespedes signed with Oakland for four years, $36 million. Soler’s agent still needs to receive an unblocking license from the Office of Foreign Asset Control."

Still interested and "going for it" are clearly 2 different things and to be honest, with the Yankees not exactly lighting it up and not getting runners home lately, any sign of "movement" by Yankee brass gets Yankee fans excited.   You also have to realize that Jorge Soler has been heavily linked to the Chicago Cubs for a while now, and in fact they appear to be the favorites to land Soler.  Read HERE.

(In Photo: Yoenis Cespedes before signing with the Oakland Athletics)
And how about this point; There is not much out there about Jorge Soler.  I can't find much information at all about Soler except that he's supposed to be extremely talented and that he's 20...maybe.  At least once Yoenis Cespedes put his YouTube promotion video out there (HERE), suddenly there were several reports trickling in on the Internet, even pictures of Cespedes started circulating.  I just can't find much on Soler at all. You have to wonder about that.

Do I think the Yankees are interested? Yes, but I just can't tell if they're going to "go for it."  Look, Soler's an outfielder and it's highly unlikely they just throw Soler onto a major league field mid-season so this is out.  Sure, if they sign him, I see him in the minor leagues and at the end of the day, the Yankees have bought for their future.  It would be exciting, but I don't see this as an immediate "fix" for the Yankees current RISP situation. Long term though, if the Yankees "go for it"...well yeah, it seems like a good idea, if these "reports" of Soler are what they say.

We'll have to stay tuned, there are a lot of stories out there about Soler right now, but all of it is speculation.

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