Potential Red Sox Slugger Target Reportedly Signing With Giants

If the Boston Red Sox are going to add any right-handed pop during spring training, it apparently will have to come from someone other than Jorge Soler.

The veteran slugger, a reported potential target for the Red Sox, has agreed to sign with the San Francisco Giants, according to multiple reports Tuesday. According to Mike Rodriguez, Soler has agreed to a three-year, $42 million deal with the Giants. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser was the first to report an agreement between the two sides.

According to an early January report from veteran MLB insider Héctor Gómez, the Red Sox were very aggressive in their pursuit of Soler after missing out on Teoscar Hernández, who signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gómez in January went as far as to call the Red Sox the front-runner to sign Soler.

USA Today baseball insider Bob Nightengale forecasted the Sox would sign Soler, too, as part of a predictions story for the publication earlier this month, and the New York Post’s Jon Heyman said he “wasn’t ruling out” Soler landing in Boston.

The Giants hadn’t really been tied to the former World Series MVP in rumors for much of this winter, but the talks reportedly started to pick up recently. The Giants, similar to the Red Sox, certainly could use an infusion of power, especially from the right side. San Francisco finished 26th in OPS last season as a team and 25th from the right side. Soler is a few years removed from leading the American League with 48 home runs as a member of the Kansas City Royals in 2019 (he also led the league in strikeouts), and he had his best season since then in 2023. Soler hit .250 with 36 home runs and 75 RBIs for the Miami Marlins with an .853 OPS, his best mark since that ’19 campaign.

Because of that, it was unsurprising to see Soler opt out of the final season of his deal with the Marlins. It turned out to be a wise move for Soler, who passed up on that $12 million and earned a pay bump with security beginning in 2024.

As for the Red Sox, they’ll presumably once again look elsewhere for some thump in the middle of the lineup. Former Boston designated hitter J.D. Martinez could make sense if the two sides want a reunion.