Giants trade Soler, Jackson to Braves for veteran reliever, prospect

As expected, the Giants dealt one of their big offseason additions before Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline.

But the player who was traded came as a bit of a surprise.

The Giants sent designated hitter Jorge Soler and reliever Luke Jackson to the Atlanta Braves, the team announced Monday night, in exchange for minor league infielder Sabin Ceballos and left-hander Tyler Matzek.

The move is a way for San Francisco to escape most of the rest of Soler’s contract while also clearing at-bats for young players — a point of emphasis after a disappointing first four months.

Soler has come on strong lately and reached base 22 times in eight games last week, but the overall impact hasn’t been what the Giants expected when they gave him a three-year, $42 million contract in February. Soler has a .749 OPS and is slugging just .419 with 12 homers.

The initial plan was to have Soler, who hit 36 homers a year ago with the Miami Marlins, hit cleanup, but his struggles with runners in scoring position led to a change. He has had some success as the leadoff hitter and ranks second on the team in walks, but the Giants have at times felt hamstrung by having a full-time DH who hasn’t brought the power they expected. The 32-year-old is owed $13 million in each of the next two seasons, for which the Giants no longer are responsible.

The plan, per a source, is to use the DH spot on multiple players for the remainder of the season. One option at times could be All-Star Heliot Ramos, who made 68 consecutive starts through Saturday. The Giants would like to lessen the physical burden on one of their best hitters, who also has played center field on an everyday basis. 

The Giants also have talked internally of promoting Marco Luciano, who has taken off at the plate in July but appears to be a man without a set position at the moment. Luciano has hit six homers with an even strikeout-to-walk ratio over the past month in Triple-A while alternating between shortstop and second base. With Tyler Fitzgerald locked in at shortstop, the Giants could — and likely soon will — call up Luciano to see some time at second base and at-bats as DH.

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