Braves, World Series MVP Soler reunite after trade

The Atlanta Braves acquired outfielder Jorge Soler and right-handed reliever Luke Jackson from the San Francisco Giants late Monday, bringing back two key players from their World Series-winning 2021 team.

The deal, which will send left-handed reliever Tyler Matzek and minor league third baseman Sabin Ceballos to San Francisco, was essentially a money 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’s owed on the free agent deal he signed with San Francisco over the winter.

Soler, 32, returns to the Braves nearly three years to the day they acquired him from Kansas City in 2021. Atlanta romped to a World Series victory, and Soler — whose 446-foot home run that left Houston’s Minute Maid Park in the championship-clinching Game 6 became an iconic swing in franchise lore — won World Series MVP honors.

His power is undeniable. Soler hit the longest home run of the season last week, at 478 feet, and has a dozen on the year to go along with a .240/.330/.419 line. He joins a Braves team bedeviled all season by injuries, from the torn ACL of reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. to the torn ulnar collateral ligament of ace Spencer Strider.

Despite the struggles of their offense, the Braves remain in possession of the first NL wild card. Though they hadn’t intended to have a busy 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 thrown well in July, striking out 13 over 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 the Braves’ powerful bullpen that sports the lowest ERA in the NL by more than four-tenths of a run at 2.90.

By dealing Soler, San Francisco — which prior to Monday had been one of four teams that hadn’t made a move amid the flurry of transactions before the 6 p.m. trade deadline Tuesday — indicated a willingness to ship out players from a team that has won four straight to pull within four games of the third NL wild-card spot.

Soler had 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 at 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 subtracting from 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 holding firm that they want a strong prospect return, the chance of Snell moving, executives said this week, is limited.