San Francisco Giants signing of former All-Star looks even worse after second trade

Ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline, the San Francisco giants made a few appointments. One of them was at the Atlanta Braves.

They sent outfielder Jorge Soler and relief pitcher Luke Jackson to the Braves in exchange for Tyler Matzek, who was injured at the time, and infield prospect Sabin Ceballos, who was playing in Single-A.

Matzek was released after six appearances for the Giants Triple-A team and Ceballos has shown some promise. But the main reason for making this deal was to waive the salary Soler is owed.

He signed a three-year deal worth $42 million in mid-February and was traded less than six months after the ink dried on the deal. He didn’t have the impact San Francisco was hoping for and they decided it was best to cut their losses.

The former All-Star and two-time World Series champion did play slightly better for Atlanta, as his walk rate and hard-hit percentage increased. But it wasn’t enough that they wanted to keep him long-term.

Hours after the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees To win the 2024 World Series, Soler was on his way again.

The Braves traded him to the Angels from Los Angeles in exchange for starting pitcher Griffin Canning. The starting pitcher provides some depth at the end of the rotation for a team that could lose Max Fried and Charlie Morton in free agency.

However, this was another salary dump involving Soler.

Canning is expected to earn approximately $5.1 million in arbitration; the veteran outfielder is owed $13 million through 2025 and 2026, meaning they would have to save somewhere in the neighborhood of $20.9 million by moving him.

Soler being traded for a second time as a salary dump less than nine months after signing a three-year contract shows just how bad the Giants’ move was. The idea of ​​adding a home run threat to the middle of their order made sense; he was coming off a 36 home run season with the Miami Marlins.

But it was money not well spent, as there were holes in Soler’s game that became apparent during his short stint with San Francisco. Considering how late in the offseason he signed, there may not have been much competition to land him as the Giants could very well have bid against themselves and paid far more than necessary.

Hindsight is 20/20, but such moves should be avoided by Buster Posey, the new president of Baseball Operations.