Marlins division rivals acquired a former Marlin in a surprise move

The Trade Deadline flurry of trades is in full swing. By the time August starts, more Miami Marlins players are likely to be in new uniforms as well. The Atlanta Braves shockingly acquired DH Jorge Soler and RP Luke Jackson from the San Francisco Giants for injured RP Tyler Matzek and Minor League 3B Sabin Ceballos. This is a bizarre trade involving a former Marlin (Soler).

A bad trade for Atlanta involving a former Miami Marlins slugger.

I covered Jorge Soler quite a bit in his time with the Miami Marlins. The 32 year old has been injury-prone, inconsistent and terrible defensively throughout his 11 year career. He was abysmal for The Fish in 2022, when he batted just .207/.295/.400 in 72 games and 270 AB. He was better in his contract year in 2023, when he swatted 36 homers, while batting .250/.341/.512 and being worth a mediocre 1.8 WAR.

This season, Jorge Soler is batting .240/.330/.419, with 12 home runs and 40 RBI in 93 games and 341 AB for San Francisco. They signed him to a 3 year deal before the season, so it's a pretty bad look for them to then trade him in the middle of his first season. I get that he was a bad signing and that they're not going to the playoffs this season, but it still looks bad to me.

It's also sad to see Atlanta not see their staggering amount of injuries, as a sign to take a step back and improve their farm this season. Instead, they keep trying to win in a lost season. They will plug Soler in RF, where he will be terrible as usual defensively, in a sad attempt to re-create their 2021 playoff run. A run that they won't be able to do with a worse roster. It also sends a bad message to their fans.

Ronald Acuna Jr. will come back to play RF next season, so Soler will move to DH, thus confirming the upcoming departure of free agent-to be DH Marcell Ozuna. Another former Miami Marlins player, Ozuna is batting .306/.384/.596, with 31 home runs and 83 RBI in 105 games and 389 AB. He's the sole bright spot in their otherwise underwhelming season. Now their fans know that he won't be coming back.