The Kansas City Royals’ outfield has been an underwhelming piece of the puzzle at Kauffman Stadium this season.
As a group, the Royals’ outfielders are hitting .226 with just six home runs hit on the season. The Royals could use an offensive spark from their outfielders, and former MLB executive Jim Bowden suggests Jorge Soler to be the missing link.
Jorge Soler was a member of the Royals from 2017 until the trade deadline in 2021, when he was sent to Atlanta. While he was in Kansas City, the slugger mashed 48 home runs during the 2019 season to break former Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas’ franchise single-season home run record.
The Royals enter Tuesday ranked 29th in Major League Baseball for home runs as a team, and Bowden thinks that they will need the power boost to return to the postseason once again. That is where Soler comes into play; during his career, he has a 162-game average of 31 home runs. Hitting this average last season would have placed him second on the team’s home run leaderboard, only trailing Bobby Witt Jr.
So the Royals get some pop in their lineup, but what is in it for the Los Angeles Angels? The Angels would receive right-handed pitcher Ben Kudrna, a former second-round pick in 2021. The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked him as the Royals’ No. 8 prospect. Along with receiving a former high-round selection from the Royals’ farm system, the Angels would be able to dump Soler’s $16 million per year salary through next season.
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