Two key players the SF Giants traded have been eliminated from MLB playoffs

The SF Giants traded both Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson to the Atlanta Braves at the trade deadline. The pair was surely hoping to recreate the magic that helped lead the Braves to a World Series title in 2021 but they were eliminated in the Wild Card round.

Trading both players was essentially the Giants admitting they had erred in signing both of them. They signed the right-handed reliever Jackson as he was coming off an injury and he looked solid in 2023 posting a 2.97 ERA in 33 appearances. 2024 was much more of a struggle as Jackson got knocked around quite a bit with the Giants to the tune of a 5.40 ERA.

The two players the SF Giants traded at the deadline have been eliminated from the playoffs

He turned things around a bit with the Braves which is where he had several solid years including 2021 in which he posted a 1.98 ERA. 2024 with the Braves was not terrible as Jackson had a 4.50 ERA in 16 games. He also pitched in Game 1 of the 3-game Wild Card series against the San Diego Padres and gave up one earned run in 2 innings. He has a club option for 2025 at $7 million but the Braves will almost certainly buy that out at $2 million which would make him a free agent.

With Soler, he did better as a Brave than he did as a Giant in 2024. He slashed .243/.356/.493 after being traded which were all improvements on his numbers with the Giants and he also slugged 9 home runs and drove in 24 runs.

He did decently in the Wild Card series as well. He recorded a hit in each game including a solo home run in Game 2 that gave the Braves some life but was ultimately not enough to overcome the Padres.

The Braves inherited Soler's 3-year $42 million deal that he signed with the Giants in the offseason. That sizable contract was a big reason why the Giants decided to offload him at the deadline when it became clear that he was not hitting well enough to warrant that kind of deal. It will be interesting to see how the Braves decide to handle him in the offseason.

It remains to be seen who "won" or "lost" this trade at this point. The Giants received reliever Tyler Matzek in the trade who they cut and then shortly thereafter the Braves signed him to a minor league deal. The Giants did receive an interesting prospect in Sabin Ceballos who can play in both the infield and outfield. If he can develop into something then maybe the Giants will win the trade in the long run.

Ultimately, the trade was done to dump salary once Farhan Zaidi realized the Soler contract was a mistake. The Braves got back two heroes from their World Series run back but they were not able to replicate that success this time.