Jorge Soler Would Save the Philadelphia Phillies’ Future
February 16, 2012 by Adam Wells
Filed under Fan News
The bidding for 19-year-old Cuban hitting sensation Jorge Soler is about to heat up.
According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, the two teams with the most interest in the outfielder are the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies.
Considering how highly Soler is thought of in baseball circles, the fact that an intense bidding war will break out for his services is, to use Passan’s phrase, no surprise.
We just saw the Oakland A’s give another Cuban star, Yoenis Cespedes, $36 million over four years. Soler should eclipse that figure because of the fact that he is seven years younger.
The Yankees are in on him because they are in on every highly-touted player. The Phillies are in on him because they desperately need a player like him to build their future around.
If you aren’t familiar with Soler’s skills, he has tremendous bat speed that gives him the potential for huge power and a great throwing arm that will easily play in right field. He is very raw and will need a few years in the minors, but he can be a star.
While the Phillies have enjoyed their most successful five-year stretch in franchise history, winning one World Series and five division titles, they have done it by trading away almost all of their impact prospects.
That is not a bad thing, especially since they are winning, but it does make their long-term future bleak. Most of their best players—Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino—are over the age of 30.
Cole Hamels is just 28 years old, but there are serious doubts about whether they will be able to re-sign him when he becomes a free agent after the season. He is not going to give them a hometown discount.
Domonic Brown, at just 24, has the most potential of any young player on the Phillies, but they have mismanaged him to the point where a change of scenery would be in his best interest.
Soler is the best chance that the Phillies have to get a young, impact player into the system right away. He can be the piece that secures their long-term future.
It is going to cost a lot of money to get it done, but if they have $50 million to throw at Jonathan Papelbon, they should be able to find a way to make this work.
Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com