SATURDAY: The Royals don’t expect Soler to require surgery, though he’s still likely to miss at least six weeks, per Maria Torres of the Kansas City Star (Twitter links).
FRIDAY: Royals outfielder Jorge Soler has been diagnosed with a fracture of the first metatarsal of his left foot, Rustin Dodd of The Athletic is among those to report on Twitter. He evidently suffered the injury while running after putting a ball in play tonight, having previously fouled a ball off the same area recently.
The outlook on Soler isn’t clear just yet, of course, but this injury seems all but certain to cost him a decent bit of action. As Dodd notes, Jayson Werth missed nearly three months last year with a similar injury, though that’s not to say such an extended absence will be required in this case.
It’s unfortunate timing for the 26-year-old Soler, who was in the midst of a strong season after a brutal 2017 campaign. Through 254 plate appearances entering play today, he carried a .268/.358/.473 slash with nine home runs.
Needless to say, the Royals won’t be competitive this year, so it’s easy enough to weather the loss in that regard. And Soler wasn’t likely to feature as a trade candidate given his not-so-distant struggles and lengthy control rights.
Still, it’s rough news for a team that’s looking to build a new core and a player who finally seemed to be reestablishing himself. And there are financial implications as well. As we explained recently, Soler may have had cause to consider opting into arbitration at season’s end, but it now seems much more likely that he will stick with the guarantee provided in the contract he signed with the Cubs after he departed his home nation of Cuba.
Bummer, things look bleak for KC.
Bleak? KC wasn’t expected to contend, and Soler wasn’t a trade chip. What do you want from the team?
Calm down.
Moose, signed to a bargain one year $6.5M
It’s not really a bargain, more just market value.
According to fangraphs, he’s been worth $9.5MM so far this year. Seems like a little better than market for his type of player.
Huh?
I’d call it a bargain when Moose was projected for something like a 3 year, $39 million contract. A bargain in both years committed and money.
He might have been projected for that, but he’s not worth it. He’s a slightly above average player but can’t get on base at an average rate.
His OBP isnt .330+ so he’s no good? Walks are the equivalent of a single. Players can still be valuable if they don’t draw walks. He has 17 doubles and 13 hrs. He’s been a good bit better than average at that plate. 6.5 mil is a bargain.
He has a below average BA and OBP. Sure his power is alright, but he still only puts up slightly above average hitting stats. And as shown in the past offseason, players like this just aren’t valued how they used to be. Power alone doesn’t get big contracts anymore.
A big contract isn’t what anyone said. 1/6.5 is a bargain. He’s an above average hitter who won’t sign for that again. He’ll be gettting double that annually. Probably a 3/39 after this season. He’s absolutely a bargain. 260/320/450 is solid output and that’s what you can reasonably expect every year of Moustakas with the potential for a little more. The angels went with Cozart for that price. I bet they regret that.
Say it ain’t so(ler).
Hello Mr. Bon Jovi
Time to start selling.
It’s been time, hence why they started selling a week ago, before Soler got hurt.
“Needless to say, the Royals won’t be competitive this year,”
So if you can’t make the Marlins news then why the royals?
So what, he misses time..
Did you think The Royals were gonna be competitive this year? Plus yea he’s gonna miss time, but he was also one of their better line-up pieces this year.
It’s a shame about Soler. I was really rooting for him. There are a ton of players that would probably provide a stopgap, but Melky Cabrera comes to mind. However, they could get Polanco from the Pirates in a salary dump or even any of the Orioles outfielders.
Bonifacio will be back from his suspension soon. I doubt they make any stopgap moves.
Yep. Luckily for the Royals it just happens to coincide with Boni coming back. I think they’d also take a chance on O’Hearn, Burns, or Schwindel before ever trading for a stop gap guy at this point.
Hopefully he’s back to the everyday line up in early August. The Cubs visit Kauffman stadium.