This Gordy piece is just the latest evidence that they are actively looking to move Soler:

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/7/71 ... yroll-bump

It's been reported he was offered to ATL as part of a Miller package plus also to CLEV for one of their arms.

Yes he sucks defensively and yes he is injury prone but the guy could be a monster. If they do move him, they better get equal value back.

Guys like him are not a dime a dozen...

I wouldn't say he sucks defensively, great arm but tames bad routes.. I like him a lot, he's locked up very long term for chump change..I'd like him to stay, reminds me of a young Cespedes. Why isn't that buster Baez on all these trade lists..he blows.

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Baez clearly has more versatility.

As to Soler, just hope their evaluation is accurate but yea, that contract makes him that much more valuable.

At least it appears they are targeting top tier cost controlled pitching.

Still risky. The guy raked in the playoffs.

He hits the ball harder than anyone on the team, Baez looked bad at every position I've seen him @ ..he can't hit either ..he's garbage .

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Only time will tell on all these guys. Baez did show improvement last year and Maddon seems like he likes him although his name has come up in rumors too, but more so before the Zobrist signing.

San Diego is interested in Baez. I thought I read that he was part of the Toronto trade talks.

But yea, it looks like Soler is outta here.

The Core 19 is starting to drift away!

i personally think (as opposed to all that impersonal thinking i often do =) that soler's bat adds another dimension to the cubs lineup, or it shifts it into an even higher gear. there's just something about having another potentially big-boy .280/20-30/~100 RBI bat in there with that core of rizzo bryant and schwarber that's !!! and then with baez and russell creeping on the comeup, yeah, the cubs lineup just feels that much more complete with soler in there.

that said, i think his OF defense obviously leaves something to be desired, and right now whether it's injury or perhaps expecting too much too soon it's not like jorge has shown up and put up #s that FOR SURE screams out "THIS GUY IS .280/30/100 IF HE GETS 550+ ABS!!!!!" -- you saw some of that in 2014 when in ~24 games he had his ~100 ABs of .290/5/20 with a .902 OPS (aka "corey dickerson territory", or the guy i wanted the cubs to get in the 2013-14 offseason b4 he blew up for the rockies in 2014 like .310/24/76 with that .900+ OPS, cuz all corey dickerson does [when healthy] is put up a .900+ OPS) but then last year's (admittedly injury-riddled) sophomore season saw him drop to ~100 games / ~400 at bats of .262/10/47 with a .723 OPS, which isn't quite that .924 career minor league OPS you've known and love.

so yeah, this year is going to be a huge year for soler as we're likely going to find out just what he is/can-be at the big league level. is he going to be that ~.900/+ OPS guy that we saw in the minors and his 2014 cup of coffee? or is he going to have injury problems that help him regress to a .700something OPS, cuz last year's .723 OPS was far from inspiring, even tho in the playoffs he's a career .474 hitter with a 1.100 SLG% good for a 1.705 OPS... wowzers he had a good playoff run!

with that promise from the 2015 playoffs, yeah, if you can swing a deal for someone !!! under the auspices that you're getting value for a .900+ OPS guy, then i'd say go ahead and do it and risk the potential for him to out and be a total stud..... especially cuz doing that eschews the chance of him getting ~550 ABs of .258/16/72/4 with a .761 OPS.... or hell say he starts having more injury problems and can only muster another ~300-400 ABs again.... well then his trade value decreases significantly and it's like "why didnt you trade him this offseason when his playoff performances had ppl thinking he was that .900+ OPS guy?"

so yeah, go ahead and trade him if you want (ESPECIALLY if you go get heyward to replace/upgrade him defensively) but just make sure you get something good for him. you gotta do better than adam warren with soler.... go get heaney from the angels and impress me, OK? =D

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actually, they are if you are basing it on his production and now looking at him with his shirt off

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

All part of the plan

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Remember, they thought so highly of him when the playoffs started that he was sitting on the bench

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

He was pretty great in the playoffs

I don't like Soler's body changes. The guy's already made out of glass, and if there was ever a guy I'd suspect of being on something, it's him.

Not saying he couldn't be Cespedes but I don't like the chances.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

He's nothing like Cespedes. Soler controls the strikezone and he's brutal in the outfield.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

the control of the strikezone is a very recent development. Not sure I trust it yet. And he looked better in the minors in the OF. He looks bigger and bulkier now.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I was just reminded of Cespedes literally kicking the ball into right field TWICE in the World Series

Yeah, I don't think Cespedes is great out there either. Great arm though. The Cubs have a lot of great outfield arms too. It's catching the ball they need to work on.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Oh, I wasnt even saying that. Just remembered that though. Crazy.

Cespedes is fast as hell so he can cover his bad routes.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

_________________
Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Talk about a slow developing market for Cespedes. He wanted like 6/150.

That ain't happening now unless someone panics like LAA.

He's not a darling of the modern advanced stats guys. He doesn't see pitches. He doesn't walk. He strikes out a lot. I would compare him to Jim Rice as a hitter. Rice is a guy who has been denigrated by the "RBI are meaningless" crowd. Cespedes is a guy that has to be dealt with in the middle of an order. You saw the difference he made for the Mets. They went from being horrible offensively to a powerhouse. The opposite happened when he left Oakland last year. That might be "anecdotal" to dan bernstein and the guy sitting in front of a computer, but I assue you it's reality to the pitchers who have to face him.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

he's had four years in the majors: 2 good, 2 not so good. 30 years old next year. i'll give him 4 year 100 mil.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Cespedes age is the only thing about him that bothers me.

I wouldn't want the Sox to get him. I'd be afraid he'd be another Swisher, Dunn, or LaRoche. Lawrie will probably be that too. Can't they find some guys to put the ball in play?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I think its pretty obvious the Sox are sitting on the floor next to the dining room table waiting for the big boys to be done feasting to see if there's anything left.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest