Braves trade for Jorge Soler, reuniting with their 2021 World Series MVP

The Braves are getting the band back together, trading with the San Francisco Giants to bring back slugger Jorge Soler and reliever Luke Jackson, who both were big parts of their 2021 World Series champion team.

The Braves sent left-handed reliever Tyler Matzek, who has missed most of the season with injuries, and third-base/outfield prospect Sabin Ceballos to the Giants in the deal.

Soler has been strictly a DH all season with San Francisco and had not played the outfield, but started 31 games in right field for the Marlins last season and is still athletic enough to play the position. The Braves obviously have a DH in All-Star Marcell Ozuna, but didn’t want to pass up the chance to add Soler’s bat to an injury-plagued offense that’s been spotty most of the season.

Though Soler has hit a modest .240 with 12 homers and a .749 OPS in 93 games for the Giants, the Braves are getting him amid a torrid stretch in which he’s hit .312 with eight extra-base hits (two homers), eight RBIs and a whopping 15 walks in his past 17 games for a .447 OBP and .972 OPS in that stretch. He’s owed $13 million each of the next two seasons. Ozuna is signed only through this season, with a $16 million team option for 2025 and a $1 million buyout.

The Braves traded for Soler at the 2021 trade deadline from Kansas City, to great returns. After joining Atlanta, he had 14 homers and an .882 OPS in 55 regular-season games to help the Braves come from behind to win the NL East, then was World Series MVP after hitting .300 with three homers and a 1.191 OPS in the six-game series against the Houston Astros. That came after he missed most of the NLCS after testing positive for COVID-19.

Jackson, 32, spent five seasons with the Braves through 2021, when he had his finest year with a 1.98 ERA in 71 appearances, then made 11 postseason appearances including three scoreless appearances in the World Series. He has struggled this season with a 5.40 ERA in 36 appearances and has a $7 million team option for 2025 with a $2 million buyout.

Matzek was wildly popular among Braves fans in 2021 after his iconic performance in Game 6 of the NLCS against the Dodgers, the most dramatic of his 11 scoreless outings in 13 appearances during that postseason, when he had a 1.72 ERA with 24 strikeouts and four walks in 15 2/3 innings.

He missed the 2022 postseason and all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery and had a couple of related setbacks this year that limited him to 11 early season appearances with a 9.90 ERA. Matzek hasn’t pitched since May 4.

Ceballos, 21, is a 6-3, 225-pound prospect whose athleticism, bat-to-ball skills and raw power make him intriguing. He had 18 homers and a 1.069 OPS for the University of Oregon in 2023 before the Braves drafted him in the third round, but has not matched that college power yet in High A, posting a .353 OBP and 24 extra-base hits (three homers) in 377 plate appearances. Atlanta has third baseman Austin Riley under contract through 2032.

(Photo of Jorge Soler from June 3: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)