The Padres have signed veteran infielder Donovan Solano to a minor league deal, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Solano will report to the club’s Arizona facilities for now but will presumably move to a higher affiliate after getting in a delayed Spring Training of sorts.
Solano, 36, has somewhat quietly been a very effective utility guy over the past five seasons. After playing in the majors from 2012 to 2016, Solano was stuck in the minors for 2017 and 2018. He made it back to the show with the Giants in 2019 and spent three years with them.
He got into 236 games in those three years, one of which was the shortened 2020 season, and hit .308/.354/.435. His 5.8% walk rate was below average but he was also tough to strike out, a rate of just 18.8%. He did that while providing the club with plenty of defensive versatility, bouncing between shortstop, second base and third base.
The past two years have seen him sign one-year deals, first with the Reds and then with the Twins, largely producing in a similar manner. He has a combined slash line of .296/.355/.413 from 2019 through 2023, which translates to a wRC+ of 112, indicating he’s been 12% better than the league average hitter. He didn’t play shortstop at all in the past two years but added first base into his repertoire.
Given the generally solid offense and his ability to bounce around the infield, it’s a bit surprising that he has lingered on the open market this long. There was a rumor in January that the Twins were interested in bringing him back to Minnesota but his winter was quiet apart from that.
It would appear that Solano was another victim of an offseason that wasn’t kind to many players. Stars like Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman and Jordan Montgomery had to settle for short-term deals well below expectations while even guys at the lower tiers struggled. Late in the winter, position players like Amed Rosario, Gio Urshela, Michael A. Taylor, Adam Duvall, Randal Grichuk and others signed deals for $4MM or less.
That will work to the Padres’ benefit, as they’ve now brought aboard a talented infielder without having to commit a roster spot. The financial components of the deal aren’t known but Solano probably won’t be guaranteed much even if he is eventually added to the roster.
The Friars have had a bit of a rotating infield picture over the past few months. It was reported at the start of Spring Training that Xander Bogaerts would be moving from shortstop to second base, with Ha-Seong Kim taking over at short. Manny Machado had elbow surgery in the offseason that had prevented him from taking his normal third base position, but he has been serving as the designated hitter.
With Machado not able to take the field, the third base playing time has been split between Tyler Wade, Eguy Rosario and Graham Pauley. Pauley was making his major league debut but scuffled enough to get optioned after just seven games. Rosario has two home runs in his 13 games this year but his 39.1% strikeout rate is on the worrying side. Wade has spent many years as a speed-and-defense utility guy who doesn’t hit much and he’s currently batting .222/.317/.250 this year.
Machado will eventually return to the third base spot, which will lead to reduced infield playing time, though that will also open up the designated hitter slot. Perhaps Solano would make sense on the club at that time, as he could provide depth at multiple infield spots while providing the club with a bit more offense than someone like Wade while striking out less than Rosario.
HiredGun23
This could turn out to be a sneaky good move…
Acoss1331
Dude had an OPS plus of 111 and a nice slash line, I can’t believe he didn’t get a big league deal this past off-season.
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Lot of decent quality bats of the same mold that were as good or better this year. Same reason Belt hasn’t signed.
Padres-Padres-Padres
Nice depth move. He’s been clutch in the past and a better choice for the roster now than to rush Pauley.
MLB Top 100 Commenter
Outbid for Pham? I like Donnie Barrels better than Pham in the clubhouse anyway.
OldSaltUSN
Ya notice, there aren’t any of those usual “rumors” out there, that ANY ballplayer on the Padres was pulling for AJP to sign Pham. I don’t think the Padres clubhouse wants him back. Now, Profar, is a different situation. MOST of the Padres vet’s wanted Jurickson back on the team, and so far this year, he’s proven why (though his hitting stats will likely return to somewhere near his historical norm).
That’s a big difference between two ballplayers..
spooky
Donnie Barrels
SFBay314
You spelled Solano wrong it’s B-A-R-R-E-L-S
Gwynning
Donnie Barrels, meet Jackson Barrel
FanDan
Would rather have Belt as a DH.
Motor City Beach Bum
I wonder why no one has signed Belt. Seems weird given the quality year he had in 2023.
OldSaltUSN
Age. His stats are trending in the direction one would expect for a retiring MLB star, and no one wants to commit money for that. (Well, except AJP, who might have scr*wed the pooch on Davrish’s extension. Then again, if one were bet on a current MLB starter to still pitch effectively to age 42, it’d be Darvish. If he’s lost clicks on his fastball, he’ll rework his game to become effective with less stuff. Having watched this guy’s history, I believe that Darvish may eventually make AJP look good with that last contract.)
ck99
He’s aging but I’m surprised no one offered a one or two year deal to Belt.
Datashark
White Sox should grab him so they would have a stockpile of oft-injured players.
Brew’88
baffles me
AllAboutBaseball
Donnie Barrels!!!
Windowpane
This guy is decent. Surprised he was unsigned.
towinagain
Good move Pads! Always been a Solano fan!
Gwynning
And we’re still under the CBT… which is what was happening all offseason, tow.
towinagain
The credit goes to Preller.
Gwynning
100%!
Brew88
Agreed
no soup for you
I’m wondering if Wade may be on the way out and Solano will replace him?
Brew’88
My thoughts as well, or Eguy. One will have to go when Solano gets rostered
Brew88
Or maybe they send Musgrove to minors for some reps and bring up Solano
OldSaltUSN
What?!! You’ve got to be talking about someone other than Musgrove, ’cause your post haven’t been on the crazy side.
Brew88
I allowed to be crazy now and then?
OldSaltUSN
@soup
Well, it could just be more for depth. Injuries, slumps occure regularly in the MLB. What option would AJP have tomorrow, if he needed a veteran utility infielder? This one looks like a pretty good backup. What if Kim or Bogaerts went down tomorrow? What if Manny takes a few more months, or regresses?
Besides, how much competitive baseball has Solano played since Feb 1st? He’ll need that minor league time just to get back into the game. This opportunity is Spring Training for Solano, who was as good as “MLB retired” before he signed.
Looks like a good move for everyone involved..
Brew88
All those reasons yes. And, not that i think they will (because they should be competing for playoff spot), but Solano is also IF depth in the event that they trade HSK at deadline.
no soup for you
Agreed @oldsalt. It’s a good move all around.
truthlemonade
SD has given Tyler Wade 42 PAs and he is in the lineup for tonight. Eguy Rosario only has 23 PAs, but he has vastly outhit Wade, while striking out 9 times.
I don’t know who is better at 3b defense, but it is probably not a huge difference.
I wonder if they’re giving Wade every opportunity to right himself, and if he can’t improve, cut him and bring Solano up as DH/utility.
I think SD can’t really justify every playing Wade at DH.
straightuphonestguy
Eggy has some enticing power, but I think I’d rather see Wade and Solano form a L/R platoon the way Eggy and Wade are being used now. Great ability to boost the bottom of the lineup and matchup to relievers late in games. I think Pauley could be back if they’re willing to give him the majority of DH starts against right handers.
straightuphonestguy
Solid depth signing. My guess is once Machado is back in the field they call Pauley up as a primary DH while Wade and Solano platoon around the infield on rest days for the starters. Bench looks worlds better than last year.
King123
Solano is very underrated
DockEllisDee
Gotta love Donnie Barrels man
no soup for you
Ok, someone enlighten me, I’m not familiar with the Donnie Barrels reference.
Habeto
Not sure if you are joking, but in case you’re not, Solano got that nickname when he played for SF. Check his bio.
jaysfansince1977
Blue Jays re-instate Jansen, guess ya all missed that BIG NEWS
FemboySportsFan!
Lets gooo! finally Kirk wont start as much,
OldSaltUSN
If signing Solano means no Tommy Pham, then I’m a fan of this signing. I don’t hate Tommy. He is a talented veteran ballplayer. I just would rather not have him go near any team I root for, for … various reasons.
Edit: Looks like Pham is catching on with the White Sox, though as of this moment, it still looks like it’s in progress (i.e. probably waiting on physicals). Good luck Tommy. I hope ya have a bang up year.
VermonsterSD
Good place for Pham, crappy team, he can worry about himself, which is his normal way of doing things.
OldSaltUSN
On another note: It’s still early, but with all that angst out there about the Padres outfield, plus the contempt many had for the Profar signing, it’s working out ok. Of course, “small sample size” and the rest of the qualifiers, but the Padres OF is making 2024 a WHOLE lot more fun than 2023. Remember Sota, Grisham, Tatis’ still serving a suspension, and later still ramping up to his old form. 2024 is WORLDS better than 2023 for the outfield.
We’ll see how long it lasts, but hey, we’re all baseball fans. You take what the game gives you today, and day by day.
(Note: Plus, the OF defense of the Pads ain’t bad either. I recall WAY, way back when AJP first took over, one of his stated priorities was to have “three CF in the Padres OF”, due to the characteristics of Petco Park. Lookin’ pretty good on OF defense, for 2024.)
padres.mlblogs.com/friar-notes-padres-outfielders-…
408inthe619
Jake is DTD with that calf injury. Donnie may be getting called up sooner than later if IL stint is necessary
Brew’88
Batten up. Sullivan down