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Jeff Passan, ESPN
The Atlanta Braves acquired outfielder Jorge Soler and right-hander Luke Jackson from the San Francisco Giants on Monday night, bringing back two key players from the 2021 World Series-winning team.
The deal, which will send left-handed reliever Tyler Matzek and minor league third baseman Sabin Ceballos to San Francisco, was essentially a cash dump by a Giants team playing perhaps its best baseball of the year. The Braves will assume the remainder of Soler’s salary this season, as well as the $26 million he is owed on the free-agent deal he signed with San Francisco over the winter.
Soler, 32, returns to the Braves nearly three years after they acquired him from Kansas City in 2021. Atlanta claimed a World Series victory, and Soler — whose 446-foot home run from Houston’s Minute Maid Park in Game 6 to clinch the championship became an iconic hit in franchise history — won the World Series MVP award.
His power is undeniable. Soler hit the longest home run of the season last week, a 478-footer, and has a dozen on the year to go along with a .240/.330/.419 line. He joins a Braves team that has been plagued by injuries all season, from reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuna Jr.’s torn ACL to ace Spencer Strider’s torn ulnar collateral ligament.
Despite their offense’s struggles, the Braves remain in possession of the NL’s first wild card. While they had no intention of having a tight deadline, the opportunity to reunite with Soler and Jackson proved too tempting to pass up.
Jackson, 32, has had an up-and-down 2024 but has pitched well in July, striking out 13 in nine innings and walking just one. On the season, he has a 5.40 ERA and 33 strikeouts against 15 walks in 35 innings. He joins a powerful Braves bullpen that boasts the lowest ERA in the NL by more than four-tenths of a run at 2.90.
By trading Soler, San Francisco — which until Monday was one of four teams that had not made a move amid a flurry of transactions ahead of Tuesday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline — signaled a willingness to send players from a team that has won four straight and come within four games of the National League’s third wild-card spot.
Soler spent the season as a designated hitter but is expected to play in the outfield for the Braves, who have All-Star slugger Marcell Ozuna as their DH. With center fielder Michael Harris and Acuna on the injured list, the Braves have juggled an outfield that includes Jarred Kelenic, Ramon Laureano and two others also acquired at the 2021 deadline, Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario.
The Giants could continue to trim their roster, with reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell the biggest name. But with a $30 million player option for next season leaving little certainty for the acquiring team and the Giants maintaining that they want a return from a strong prospect, the chance of Snell moving on, executives said this week, is limited.
