NEWSLETTER
One of the many staring contests finally ends! One of the better bats on the market is signing, and it’s an old friend.
Jorge Soler is getting a pretty decent chunk of change from the Giants:
Soler, 32 this month, came up with the Cubs before being traded to the Royals for Wade Davis before the 2017 season. From there, he had some good years in Kansas City, was a rental World Series MVP for the Braves, and then played two years in Miami. He has quietly been only a slightly above-average bat overall since 2020, he did have a pretty good platform year in 2023 (.250/.341/.512/126 wRC+, 1.9 WAR), so clearly the Giants are banking on him being mostly that guy.
One thing to keep in mind on the price tag: Soler was GREATLY aided by the Marlins’ unwillingness to make him a Qualifying Offer, and thus keep him unattached to draft pick compensation. In the case of a guy like Soler, that could’ve been a $10+ million difference in his contract.
The implications here. Hmm. Well, for one thing, it probably moves the ball forward a bit on the other bat markets, however slightly, since there is now one fewer available. I tend to think Soler’s market was most closely intertwined with fellow righty slugger J.D. Martinez, but there are teams that could accommodate almost any of the remaining bats, so we’ll see.
For another thing, this crowds the Giants a bit:
Do the Giants already have a Michael Conforto or J.D. Davis trade lined up? Although I don’t see the Cubs having any interest in Conforto (and the Giants would have to eat some salary to make him palatable anyway, I suspect), the fit with Davis is at least plausible. For a long time, Davis was seen as a bat-only guy, but he may have made significant defensive strides at third base in San Francisco (the advanced metrics disagree, so I’m only saying it’s possible). It was a down year for him offensively (.248/.325/.413/104 wRC+), but he’s only 30 and hit .276/.363/.457/124 wRC+ the previous four seasons combined. He’s under contract for 2024 only, at $6.9 million, and then he hits free agency.
Me? I would be happy to see if Davis could continue the defensive progress and bounce back at the plate for a very modest trade return, but, man, if the Cubs were going that route – risking the defense for a bat at third – then just let Christopher Morel have a chance to do it!
The last possible impact here is that the Giants, pending a trade, may well be done adding on the offensive side. They haven’t been attached to Cody Bellinger in a while, but you just kinda never knew if they might swoop in, moving Jung-Hoo Lee to a corner outfield spot. It still seems conceivable, but Soler can and does still play a little bit of outfield. I think Bellinger for the Giants just became slightly less likely (and, again, I’m not sure how likely it was in the first place).
