After taking a back seat while other teams chased international stars such as Yu Darvish and Yoenis Cespedes, the Yankees are making a strong push to land Cuban defector Jorge Soler, sources have confirmed.
Teams were expected to make their final bids last night for the 20-year-old outfielder, with a decision expected to come as soon as today. He is expected to get a four-year deal that could be worth $20 million.
The Yankees are “trying very hard to sign him,” according to a source familiar with the team’s thinking.
Their interest is not a surprise, despite the organization’s recent reluctance to chase high-priced international free agents.
Trying to stay under the $189 million payroll threshold next season, the Yankees need some less expensive players if they intend to bring back Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson. That would make Soler an option to take over for Nick Swisher in right field.
The Yankees likely will have to outbid several teams, including the Cubs and perhaps the Dodgers and Braves. If the Cubs make a run on Soler, it could pit Brian Cashman against Theo Epstein again, mirroring 2002, when the Yankees offered more than the Red Sox and won the services of Jose Contreras.
Rafael Soriano had converted his first nine save opportunities since taking over as closer last month, but that ended when he gave up a run in the ninth inning of yesterday’s 5-4 win over the Mets — and then was pulled by Yankees manager Joe Girardi.
“That was the first time in my career I got taken out in the ninth,” said Soriano, who didn’t object to the decision.
“I didn’t have my fastball,” added Soriano, who gave up Lucas Duda’s double that carried over Curtis Granderson’s head in center, then allowed Ike Davis to pull another two-bagger to right. “No excuse. I’ll get back in and that’s it.”
“It was hard to do that,” Girardi said. “But I’m throwing him right back out there.”
Soriano didn’t have much of a reaction to being booed as he walked off the mound, despite his recent success.
“I don’t care about the fans’ [response],” Soriano said. “I’ll come back [tonight] and try to save the game.”
Davis’ RBI double in the ninth inning that made the score 4-4 completed a solid two-game stretch for the slumping Mets first baseman. Davis entered yesterday’s game as a defensive replacement in the eighth.
“The way Ike went up there and swung the bat, I was very happy with that,” manager Terry Collins said. “I hope coming out of the last two series he’s getting it going, because it looks like he is.”
Davis had a single and two walks against the Yankees on Saturday.
Collins wasn’t about to dispute the scoring decision on Derek Jeter’s grounder in the ninth inning. The ball rolled under Omar Quintanilla’s glove, but was ruled a single, with the shortstop only charged for an error for Jeter reaching second base.
“It’s Derek Jeter, give him a hit,” Collins said. “It gets him closer to 4,000.”
Hiroki Kuroda, who suffered a contusion on his left foot when he was drilled by a liner on Friday, was able to throw a bullpen session yesterday, and Girardi expects him to start Wednesday at Atlanta.
“It went well, so we expect him to make his start,” Girardi said. “He could wake up and be really sore [today] because he put pressure on it and landed on it, but I expect him to be OK.”
David Robertson (strained left oblique) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre yesterday and threw a scoreless inning in relief.
Freddy Garcia returned from the bereavement list and Ryota Igarashi was sent back to Triple A. Garcia also informed the Yankees yesterday was not his birthday, as they had thought. His birthdate had been transposed from his passport and was recorded as June 10 instead of Oct. 6.
The Mets fell to 1-5 in interleague play this season. They also lost two of three games in Toronto last month.
Dillon Gee said he expects to pitch Friday against the Reds at Citi Field. The right-hander will be getting an extra day of rest because of today’s scheduled off day. Gee indicated he had a dead arm for Saturday’s start, but neither he nor the team is concerned.
Additional reporting by Joel Sherman and Ken Davidoff