Report: Giants sign All-Star slugger Jorge Soler to 3-year, $42 million deal
The San Francisco Giants have reportedly signed free agent slugger Jorge Soler to a three-year deal worth $42 million, which would give the Giants some much-needed power in their lineup.
San Francisco Chronicle reporter Susan Slusser first reported the deal Monday evening. The team had not confirmed the deal as of 8 a.m. Tuesday.
The 31-year-old outfielder/designated hitter, who spent the last two seasons with the Miami Marlins, hit 36 home runs last season and was named to his first All-Star game. His breakout season was in 2019 when he hit 48 homers as a member of the Kansas City Royals. The last Giants player to hit at least 30 home runs in a season was Barry Bonds in 2004.
Soler opted out of a $13 million contract with Miami to become a free agent. According to Slusser, the deal is contingent on Soler passing a physical.
Injuries have limited Soler's output throughout his career but when healthy, the Havana, Cuba native is a feared power hitter. While he hasn't approached his breakout 2019 season in terms of home runs, in 2021 he was sent at the trade deadline to the Atlanta Braves, where he clubbed 14 homers in 55 games, leading the Braves to a World Series victory as series MVP.
Soler, who once played for the Cuban national baseball team, defected from Cuba in 2011 to seek a career in Major League Baseball. He began his major league career with the Chicago Cubs in 2014 and won a World Series title with the Cubs in 2016.
The Giants were in need of another power hitter after dealing Mitch Haniger to the Mariners in exchange for pitcher Robbie Ray. Soler joins a lineup that now also includes Korean center fielder Jung Hoo Lee who signed a 6-year, $113 million deal in December.
Soler will likely be the Giants' primary designated hitter and will play some outfield as well. San Francisco has been rumored to be also on the market for free agent third baseman Matt Chapman.
