Jorge Soler: Cuban Sensation Was a Risk Chicago Cubs Needed to Take

After Yoenis Cespedes signed a contract with the Oakland A's in February, all eyes on the international market turned to 20-year-old Jorge Soler. It took months to finalize his free-agent status, with the Chicago Cubs putting in the winning bid. 

According to USA Today, the Cubs got the deal done by offering up a nine-year, $30 million contract. It is the latest bold move that Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have taken to rebuild a depleted farm system, and bring this middling franchise back to prominence. 

With Soler, the Cubs now have the makings of a strong foundation in the farm system, with Anthony Rizzo, Albert Almora, Brett Jackson and Javier Baez being the next generation of players who will try to break the long streak. 

Coming from a franchise that eventually learned to embrace the concept of building a team from within to compete for championships year after year, Epstein and Hoyer have done a remarkable job of adding young, impact talent to the Cubs. 

Soler does come with a lot of risk, but he is more likely to hit his full potential than, say, Cespedes. Soler is six years younger, with much more time to really develop his skills in the minors than Cespedes, who is in the prime years of his career right now and had to play in the big leagues right away, regardless of whether he was ready or not. 

For the Cubs, overpaying for aging free agents with declining skills—or skills that were never really there to begin with—is what has got them into the predicament they are right now, with the second-worst record in baseball and on pace for just 54 wins this season. 

Trying to take risks to rebuild their farm system was something they would never do. In fact, they would take their best prospects to trade for veterans just to try and win now, at the risk of damaging their future. 

It happened when they traded for Matt Garza prior to last season. They gave up four prospects, including Chris Archer and Hak-Ju Lee. Garza had a terrific season in 2011, but that team was not close to winning a championship, and the old regime fooled itself into thinking it was. 

Even if Soler doesn't pan out and become the star that his raw tools suggest he could, the investment is not such that it will cripple the franchise for years like Alfonso Soriano's. And if he does become the player he is expected to as of this signing, the Cubs will have an All-Star for at least six years after he debuts. (His contract is structured that he can opt for arbitration if/when he debuts in the big leagues.)

Soler is an unknown property right now, since we have not seen him against advanced pitching for a sustained period of time. It is going to take a couple of years, at least, before he even sniffs Chicago. 

The risk is great, but the reward and what it signals was something that the Cubs had to do, based on where this franchise is at right now. 

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