SF Giants start pivoting on offseason strategy with surprising Braves trade

The SF Giants have made their first major move ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline as they have reportedly traded Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson to the Atlanta Braves. This move could signal that the Giants intend to sell ahead of the deadline.

SF Giants start pivoting on offseason strategy with surprising Braves trade

This news was originally reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan who broke the news that Soler was being traded to the Braves. Fansided's Robert Murray then reported that Luke Jackson was headed to Atlanta as part of the deal as well. Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reports that the Giants are getting reliever Tyler Matzek and infielder Sabin Ceballos from the Braves.

The move does not come as a huge shock. Both Soler and Jackson played key roles for the Braves in their 2021 World Series season so it makes sense for them to try to get some of that winning mojo back. Soler was even the World Series MVP that year for the Braves.

Giants fans saw a much different version of these players, though. While Braves fans will have nostalgia for these heroes that helped deliver a title, Giants fans will remember them as guys who were given overly expensive contracts and failed to live up to expectations.

In the case of Soler, he improved a bit as the year went on but he never supplied the power numbers we know he is capable of and he struggled a lot in RBI situations which was basically the sole reason he was brought in. For the season he was slashing .240/.330/.419 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI which is respectable, but the Giants were hoping for more. Especially since he was given a 3-year, $42 million deal in the offseason which is quite expensive for a DH.

With Jackson, this season has been a big struggle for him. The Giants signed him to a 2-year, $11.5 million deal prior to the 2023 season as he was coming off Tommy John surgery and he did well last year, posting an ERA under 3.00 in the 33 games he appeared in. This year was a disaster though, as he currently has a 5.40 ERA in 35 innings and just looked bad for most of the year. However, he is coming off of 3 straight scoreless outings so the Braves may be betting that he has turned a corner and that a familiar setting will get him back on track for good, or perhaps the Giants were just looking for a way to get rid of him.

Nonetheless, this signals that the Giants may be in sell mode ahead of the deadline. We will see what other moves they make, but this definitely could be the start of them selling off other pieces. On the other hand, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that it does not seem like the Giants are going to make any further major subtractions. Perhaps this deal was simply meant to offload two bad contracts. We will have to wait and see what the next 17 hours or so has in store.