Soler agrees to 3-year deal with Giants
The Giants have added some much-needed pop to their lineup, agreeing to a three-year deal worth $42 million with Cuban slugger Jorge Soler, according to multiple reports. The club has not confirmed the news.
Soler, who will turn 32 on Feb. 25, spent the past two seasons with the Marlins. He blasted a team-high 36 home runs en route to his first career All-Star nod in 2023. Soler posted a slash line of .250/.341/.512 with a 128 OPS+ over 137 games, helping to power Miami to a surprise postseason appearance.
Soler became a free agent after declining his $13 million player option with the Marlins. He ended up leveraging his 2023 rebound season into a multiyear deal with the Giants, who were in need of another big right-handed bat after trading Mitch Haniger to the Mariners in exchange for left-hander Robbie Ray.
Soler likely will slot in as the Giants’ primary designated hitter in 2024 and anchor a lineup that also added Korean center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, who signed a six-year, $113 million deal in December.
San Francisco might not be done bringing in more reinforcements, as the club has been linked to free agent third baseman Matt Chapman.
The Giants haven’t had a hitter produce a 30-homer season since Barry Bonds in 2004, but Soler has the potential to finally end the drought if he can continue to build on his resurgent 2023 campaign.
Soler had a brief stint on the injured list in September due to a right oblique strain but remained relatively healthy after injuries to his pelvis and lower back limited him to 72 games in 2022. That season was a disappointment for Soler, who had inked a two-year, $27 million contract with the Marlins (plus the 2024 player option) during the previous offseason, then produced a mere .695 OPS.
Soler’s past two seasons fit in with a career full of ups and downs. The Havana native first signed with the Cubs in 2012 and became a highly touted prospect. He made his MLB debut late in the 2014 season and helped Chicago snap its championship drought in ’16. The following winter, he was traded to the Royals for closer Wade Davis, where injuries and inconsistency continued.
The highlight of Soler’s Kansas City tenure was 2019, when he played in 162 games and bashed an AL-high 48 home runs. But he didn’t come close to reaching those heights again and was sent at the 2021 Trade Deadline to Atlanta, where he rediscovered his form and became the World Series MVP.
While Soler swings and misses quite a bit, he consistently ranks near the top of the league in contact quality. In 2023, he was in 91st percentile in barrel rate and 94th percentile in expected slugging and expected wOBA, according to Statcast. Defense is more of a question, though. Soler has a career outs above average of -24, per Statcast, and the Marlins used him far more at DH (102 starts) than in the outfield (31) in 2023.
