Seven years after leaving Cuba for a $30MM guarantee with the Cubs, former star prospect Jorge Soler is enjoying his best major league season yet. Now a member of the Royals, Soler has smashed seven home runs in nine games this month, giving him 35 on the season. Soler, the owner of an overall .259/.344/.555 line in 498 plate appearances, spoke about his 2019 success Sunday, saying (via Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com): “The only thing I have thought about was I was traded for a big-time pitcher and I wanted to live up to those expectations. I didn’t do it at the beginning. But I want to thank the organization for believing in me, for trading for me with and giving up that caliber of a player [in Davis]. There’s a weight off my shoulders now because I’ve finally lived up to those expectations.”
Then-standout closer Wade Davis was the “big-time pitcher” the Royals traded to the Cubs for Soler in a December 2016 swap. Soler then endured a miserable first year with the Royals, who kept him in the minors most of the season, but has logged quality offensive production since. Consequently, as Flanagan notes, the 27-year-old is sure to opt into arbitration after the season. Doing so will enable Soler to collect a raise over the $4MM salary he’s currently slated to earn in 2020. That’ll be the ninth and final season of his contract.
More from the AL Central…
- There’s still no timetable for the return of Tigers right-hander Tyson Ross, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News writes. Ross hasn’t pitched since May 10 because of a nerve issue in his neck. He’s continuing to deal with “tightness” there, Tigers head athletic trainer Doug Teter said Sunday. In Teter’s estimation, there’s a connection between Ross’ neck problems and the thoracic outlet syndrome surgery he underwent as a Padre in 2016. “According to the doctors, these aren’t Thoracic Outlet symptoms,” Teter said. “But that is a large surgery, a huge process, and it makes you wonder. I am going under the assumption that, yes, it does have something to do with it.” Ross’ TOS procedure helped knock what was an impressive career off the rails. The 32-year-old bounced back somewhat between San Diego and St. Louis in 2018, leading Detroit to hand him a $5.75MM guarantee in free agency last winter. Ross has given the Tigers just 35 1/3 innings of 6.11 ERA/5.99 FIP ball, though.
- Twins utilityman Willians Astudillo won’t return from an oblique strain until September, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune tweets. This will go down as a nightmarish regular season for Astudillo, who has been out since June 27 and saw his numbers nosedive before he went on the injured list. The versatile Astudillo became a fan favorite in Minnesota last year, when he burst on the scene with a .355/.371/.516 slash in a 97-plate appearance debut, but he’s only carrying a .263/.282/.383 line in 142 attempts this season. Astudillo does, however, own rather interesting strikeout and walk percentages (3.5 K, 1.4 BB).
- The Tigers have halted concussed outfielder Christin Stewart’s rehab assignment as a result of “another setback,” according to manager Ron Gardenhire (via McCosky). Stewart, already down since July 29, will have to restart the concussion protocol. This adds to a tough rookie season for the 25-year-old Stewart, who has batted .239/.321/.393 with minus-0.6 fWAR in 327 trips to the plate.
Good for Soler, nice to see him smiling like that.
Also … didn’t know his OBP was up to 344. That is impressive from him.
he has gotten better at drawing walks
He had quite a good eye in MiLB, it just didnt translate to MLB as expected.
It seems now he’s finally healthy and putting it all together and having some real success. Good for him. You could always see the talent there but he was looking more and more like a bust, mostly due to his inability to stay on the field.
Jorge Soler had also produced some impressive postseason numbers as a Cub, particularly in 2015 when he raked in the NLDS versus the Cardinals and NLCS against the Mets.
Fortunate that some players are able to find the fortitude and focus they need to be the best version of themselves just as it’s time to earn a new contract.
I think he’s always been good at eyeing pitches. When he is called out on these borderline pitches, he has a good argument. Nearly all are outside the zone.
I know every year teams had the ability to put guys on waivers once they cleared they could trade them.
With this new single trade deadline and guys get put on waivers
1. Is it announced ??? because they usually only announced it when a trade happened
2. And if a guy has a no trade can he be placed on waiver and then automatically be forced on a new team because he was claimed ???
Good questions. I believe if a player is waived, he can be selected by any team that wants him. No trade clauses are just that, trades. A team that puts a player on waivers isn’t receiving any compensation so the player may have to report but if he has 10 years in the league, he might be able to reject the waiver claim and become a free agent.If no one claims him, he still gets paid by the team waiving him. I think in the CBA it’s about how long you have been in the league. I don’t think any player can reject a waiver claim.
With the new single trade deadline a player who was on an MLB contract can only move to another club after July 31st if he is put on release waivers after being designated for assignment. He can then be selected by another team while on waivers with that team assuming all remaining contract obligations OR become a free agent if not claimed. The latter scenario would have the new signing team responsible for the pro-rated MLB minimum salary with the releasing team responsible for the remaining obligations.
Trades after July 31st can only happen with players on minor league contracts.
Still think the cubs won that trade, especially since they got a draft pick for davis.
The Cubs already traded that pick in the Casty trade
Davis posted a 1.9 rWAR, and you can’t blame the Cubs for making the move, but let’s not minimize the player Soler is turning into. He’s posted a 2.2 rWAR season and is under control another 3 seasons.
Only 2 more after 2019.
And why do you think that? What did Wade Davis help the Cubs accomplish that they couldn’t have done without him? Or are you just saying that because you are a Cubs fan? I’d guess the latter.
In hindsight, yet another questionable move by Theo Epstein especially in light of his early plan to prioritize hitting over pitching when embarking on the Cubs rebuild after replacing Jim Hendry. The consequence was dealing 2B/SS Gleyber Torres and OF Jorge Soler for two “rental” closers.
The 3 months they acquired in Aroldis Chapman for Torres at the summer trade deadline in 2016 helped net the Cubs a World Series title. The one year of Wade Davis for Soler the following offseason aided the Cubs to the postseason in 2017 but didn’t result in a repeat title.
Add in the 3-1/2 years of team control the Cubs acquired in SP Jose Quintana (assuming they pick up his 2020 team option) for OF Eloy Jimenez and SP Dylan Cease in the 2017 mid-July trade and the Cubs now appear to have acquired 5 years of pitching for a couple of decades of quality players the team could have used now and going forward. The jury is still out on 2019 and 2020 in regards to postseason outcome but if the Cubs fail to land another World Series title in that time frame these deals might be be construed as a hefty price to pay, especially if these former Cub prospects develop into perennial All-Stars and help contribute to future titles of their own.
Another more recent rental trade with the Royals could also come back to bite the Cubs in the behind, the July 15th trade of swingman southpaw Mike Montgomery for 4 games worth of veteran catcher Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado was dealt two weeks later for utility player Tony Kemp just before starting catcher Willson Contreras was lost for a month due to a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, check out the numbers Montgomery has posted as a Royal starter this month: baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=montgmi0…. The Cubs were already short on left-handed relief pitching when Montgomery was dealt and now the veteran southpaw looks like a potential ace in KC.
Outside of his great start this weekend, none of his other appearances with the Royals particularly stand out to me. Take away that start and he’s 0-3 with a 6.61 ERA with the Royals. I don’t know how exactly that translates to “potential ace”.
For my Royals, sadly those numbers qualify as that of their “potential ace”…
Mile Montgomery needed to stretch out after being an afterthought in Joe Maddon’s bullpen for most of the season. His two 5-inning starts versus the Indians on July 25th and the Red Sox on August 5th were good while his last outing against the Tigers was a 7-inning shutout masterpiece that featured 12 SO’s, zero walks and only 4 hits allowed.
It’s not as if Montgomery wasn’t a valuable member of the Cubs pitching staff since his acquisition from the Mariners in July of 2016 for yet another Cubs hitting prospect in Dan Vogelbach who has also put up some nice power number this season similar to Jorge Soler. For whatever reasons (starting with “Genius” Joe), Montgomery’s numbers have declined each year since his Cubs debut and the front office ultimately gave him away for virtually nothing in Martin Maldonado.
Potential ace…lmfao!
Apparently as a collective whole, Tyson Ross only pitches good for the padres.
For over $8 million the Tigers got 7 starts out of Ross and 2 from Matt Moore. Neither ever seemed like they wanted to be in Motown. Ross has no reason to pitch again this year unless he can be good…and being it’s the Tigers he most likely won’t be. Better to score an off season deal. Moore limped away after 2 weeks. He too will get another deal this Winter. Look at a guy like Edwin Jackson and you see the difference between a guy who wants to pitch no matter who he’s playing for….and those who simply take the $$$.
Spot on
Or…he got hurt. But you know, you know.
Why would he opt in for a mere 4 mill when he could opt out hit free agency and make so much more after his best season?
I don’t think that’s an option. I believe his 2 choices are:
1) Play for $4M
2) Opt into arbitration, which he will do
Why would he opt in for only 4 mill instead of hitting the fa market and making more after the season he is having?
Soler, Torres, Jimenez, Cease… all highly touted prospect with All Star potential shipped off by Epstein for a couple rentals and a 4/5 slot starting pitcher.
Casual fans may have already forgotten these guys. Competent baseball fans who follow the cubs are starting to question the wisdom of these moves by Theo Epstein and his scouting department.
I do miss Astudillo being with the Twins. Even when struggling, he’s a decent bat, and a good utility catcher and infielder. Using him in the outfield was rather suspect, but the Twins have a difficult time keeping some of their outfielders healthy.
Above and beyond his offensive and defensive skills, Willians is quite animated and a positive influence on the bench and in the clubhouse. He’s one of those fun players with a good heart and positive vibe.
La Tortuga might be flipped over on his back right now, but he has the heart the Twins need in October. Get healthy and get ready to hit some dingers in Yankee Stadium this October, Willians!