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.
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The move allows San Francisco to escape the remainder of Soler's contract and clear at-bats for young players -- a point of emphasis after a disappointing first four months that has the Giants (53-55) sitting four games out of an NL wild-card spot with 54 to play.
Soler has come on strong lately and reached base 22 times in eight games last week, but his 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's had some success as the leadoff hitter and ranks second on the team in walks with 44, 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.
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San Francisco's 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 and slashed .292/.353/.509 for a team-high .862 OPS with other team highs in homers (15) and RBI (53).
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.
Meanwhile, Soler and Jackson return to a Braves franchise with which they won the 2021 World Series. Soler was traded from the Kansas City Royals to Atlanta near the deadline that year, and proceeded to win World Series MVP honors with three homers in the Braves' six-game series win over the Houston Astros. Jackson, who spent five seasons in Atlanta, made three scoreless appearances in that World Series, and his tumultuous Giants tenure now ends after two seasons in which the veteran reliever posted a 4.21 ERA in 69 appearances.
Matzek, who broke into the big leagues with the Colorado Rockies in 2014, returns to the NL West with the Giants, though whether or not he'll actually pitch is in question. He, like Jackson, was among MLB’s premier relief pitchers during the Braves’ 2021 World Series championship run, posting a 2.57 ERA in 69 appearances. He missed the entire 2023 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery, though, and struggled to post a 9.90 ERA in 10 innings this season before going on the injured list with inflammation in his throwing elbow in May.
Ceballos, ranked Atlanta’s No. 17 prospect before the trade, is a 21-year-old right-handed-hitting infielder. He was picked No. 94 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, and is hitting .259 with three home runs and 30 RBI in 84 games for the Braves High-A affiliate Rome this season.
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