Bulbs can become somewhat soft from dehydration during storage and or getting too warm so they try to break dormancy and the emerging shoots use up the water in an unrooted and unwatered bulb. A lot of imported bulbs are like this. It's generally OK and they will recover with proper care.

If they smell awful and the new shoots turn mushy, looking like they have been frozen and thawed it's a bacterial problem (rot) and you should discard them.

Best I can do without seeing (or smelling) them.

Steverino, thanks for the message. It gave me hope! :) I figured that it was odd I had soft bulbs from two different importers but your explanation makes sense. None of them smelled rotten so that's good.

Z