Braves acquire Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson in trade with Giants

The Atlanta Braves acquired outfielder Jorge Soler and right-handed reliever Luke Jackson from the San Francisco Giants on Monday night, bringing back two key players from their 2021 World Series-winning team.

The deal, which will send left-handed reliever Tyler Matzek and minor league third baseman Sabin Ceballos to San Francisco, was essentially a waste of money by a Giants team that may be playing its best baseball of the year. The Braves will assume the remainder of Soler’s salary this season as well as the $26 million he is owed on the free-agent contract he signed with San Francisco over the winter.

Soler, 32, returns to the Braves nearly three years to the day after he was acquired from Kansas City in 2021. Atlanta won a World Series, and Soler — whose 446-foot home run out of Houston’s Minute Maid Park in the championship-clinching Game 6 became an iconic turning point in franchise lore — won World Series MVP honors.

His power is undeniable. Soler hit the longest home run of the season last week, at 478 feet, and has hit a dozen this year, along with a .240/.330/.419 line. He joins a Braves team that has been plagued by injuries all season, from reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuna Jr.’s torn ACL to ace Spencer Strider’s torn ulnar collateral ligament.

Despite their offense’s struggles, the Braves remain in possession of the National League’s first wild card. Even though they weren’t scheduled to play at a busy time, the opportunity to reunite Soler and Jackson proved too tempting to pass up.

Jackson, 32, had an up-and-down 2024, but he pitched well in July, striking out 13 in nine innings and allowing just one walk. This season, he has a 5.40 ERA and 33 strikeouts and 15 walks in 35 innings. He joins a potent Braves bullpen that has the lowest ERA in the National League by more than four-tenths of a point, at 2.90.

In dealing Soler, San Francisco — which before Monday was one of four teams that had not moved amid the flurry of trades before the 6 p.m. trade deadline Tuesday — signaled its willingness to ship players from a team that has won four straight to move within four games of the third NL wild-card spot.

Soler spent the season as a designated hitter, but he is expected to play in the outfield for the Braves, who have star slugger Marcell Ozuna as their designated hitter. With center fielder Michael Harris and Acuna on the injured list, the Braves have juggled an outfield that includes Jarred Kelenic, Ramon Laureano and two others also acquired at the 2021 deadline, Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario.

The Giants could continue to cut players from their roster, including reigning National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell. But with a $30 million option for next season that leaves few certainties for the team acquiring a player and the Giants adamant they want a good return, the chances of Snell leaving are limited, executives said this week.