The Braves sent two-time World Series champion to the Angels.

Soler was considered one of the most obvious trade candidates in all of baseball this offseason given his defensive limitations and availability Marcel Ozuna in Atlanta.

The Braves acquired him in something of a desperate move at the trade deadline, needing help for an injury-ravaged lineup. It seemed like the plan was always to keep Soler in the outfield for a couple of months and make a trade in the offseason.

Soler, 32 (33 in February), would add a powerful bat and limited defensive skillset to the Angels’ lineup. He signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Giants last winter following a 36-man campaign in Miami and has now been traded twice in the first year of his contract.

However, this is not due to lack of production. In contrast, Soler had a great season, hitting .241/.338/.442 in 142 games. He has been especially productive since June, blazing with a .263/.366/.489 hitting line and hitting 15 of his 21 homers over that span of 386 plate appearances.

Soler simply wasn’t a long-term fit for Atlanta, and Ozuna could retain his $16 million club option. Both players have great power but ineffective defense in the deep corners of the field. The Braves, as a luxury tax payer, would be on the hook for overpayment penalties on top of Soler’s $13 million annual debt.

The matchup against the Angels is simpler. He will be a regular striker for the Halos club, which used a journeyman. Willie Calhoun as the top option at the DH position in 2024. Last year, eighteen players saw time at DH for the Angels, and their collective hitting (.222/.299/.328) was the fifth-worst in the sport in terms of wRC+ (80).

Even if Soler doesn’t return to his stellar performance in 2023, his performance in 2024 represents a monumental improvement over what the Angels got from last year’s committee approach to the DH spot on their roster.

Soler is now one of five Angels with a guaranteed contract through the 2025 season. Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, Tyler Anderson And Robert Stevenson. Add in an arbitration class that could cost upwards of $31-32 million before any potential non-tenders (per Schwartz’s previously mentioned projections), and Halos is looking at a projected payroll of around $168 million (via RosterResource), and the whole off-season lies ahead. They are currently about $58 million below the first luxury tax threshold.

For the Braves, the trade removes a onerous contract while adding another competitor to their rotation competition. Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbach (and being healthy, Spencer Strider).

Canning, a former second-round pick and top prospect, has shown promise at times with the Angels — notably in 2020 and 2023 — but has yet to establish himself as a viable major league starter.

He is coming off a season in which he pitched a career-high 171 2/3 innings but with a 5.19 earned run average. His 17.6% strikeout rate, 8.9% walk rate, 40.7% ground ball percentage and 1.63 HR/9 are all worse than league average.