Report: Jorge Soler to sign with an organization by Monday - MLB

Mike Puma and George King III of the New York Post pass along this big-time update on the status of a particular unsigned Cuban defector:

According to an industry source, free agent outfielder Jorge Soler is expected to agree on a four-year deal before tomorrow.

Meaning negotiations are currently underway.

The Cubs, Yankees, Dodgers and Braves have been tied most frequently (and most recently) to the promising 20-year-old outfielder. While the Orioles, Phillies and White Sox have also been linked. Soler is expected to get at least $25 million guaranteed.

Baseball America described Soler recently as “one of Cuba’s up-and-coming young power hitters as a star on Cuba’s national junior circuit and on the junior national team.” He is a raw but intriguing talent.

FORT WORTH, Texas — A former Angels employee has been charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in connection with last year’s overdose death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, prosecutors in Texas announced Friday.

Eric Prescott Kay was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, and made his first appearance Friday in federal court, according to Erin Nealy Cox, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. Kay was communications director for the Angels.

Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room in the Dallas area July 1, 2019, before the start of what was supposed to be a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. The first game was postponed before the teams played the final three games.

Skaggs died after choking on his vomit with a toxic mix of alcohol and the powerful painkillers fentanyl and oxycodone in his system, a coroner’s report said. Prosecutors accused Kay of providing the fentanyl to Skaggs and others, who were not named.

“Tyler Skaggs’s overdose – coming, as it did, in the midst of an ascendant baseball career – should be a wake-up call: No one is immune from this deadly drug, whether sold as a powder or hidden inside an innocuous-looking tablet,” Nealy Cox said.

If convicted, Kay faces up to 20 years in prison. Federal court records do not list an attorney representing him, and an attorney who previously spoke on his behalf did not immediately return a message seeking comment.