Chicago Cubs: A flourishing Jorge Soler makes Wade Davis deal look bad

Jorge Soler’s career year with the Royals begs the question if the Chicago Cubs made the right call dealing him for one year of Wade Davis.

Jorge Soler was one of the Chicago Cubs’ top prospects after defecting from Cuba in 2011. He established his residency in Haiti and was signed to a nine-year deal worth $30 million.

The Cuban slugger rose through the minor league ranks quickly. He made his major league debut in Cincinnati on August 27, 2014 and smacked a solo shot in the 2nd inning of that game.

Soler struggled with strikeouts in 2014 and ultimately became the odd man out when the Cubs signed Dexter Fowler and Jason Heyward in the 2015 and 2016 offseasons, respectively.

Kyle Schwarber was firmly established in left field so Soler was dealt to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for closer Wade Davis.

Davis was in the final year of his contract but the Cubs needed a closer after Aroldis Chapman, whom the team acquired at the trade deadline in 2016, returned to New York on a five-year deal. Davis collected 32 saves in the regular season and struck out Bryce Harper in the decisive game 5 of the NLDS that sent the Cubs to their third straight NLCS appearance.

https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1160982820187250688

At the time, it looked like a no brainer but with the inconsistencies of Kyle Schwarber since the magical 2016 World Series and Soler flourishing in 2019, you have to wonder if the Cubs made the right move. I need to preface this with nobody could have seen this coming from Soler but the potential was always there for him. He is still just 27 years old and is slashing 0.259/0.344/0.555 with 35 home runs and 87 RBI’s (132 wRC+) entering Monday night.

He is still striking out at close to a 27 percent clip but I think you take it with that kind of production. Soler’s first two seasons in Kansas City were pretty terrible. There’s really no way to sugar coat it. He had a combined 11 home runs between the two seasons and struck out 33 percent of the time in 2017.

If the Cubs fail to win the division or make a deep postseason run this season, you might very well find Schwarber being dealt to an American League team in a much larger team shakeup. Again, nobody could have predicted it but who wouldn’t love Soler’s bat in the heart of this order right now?