The Blue Jays announced that they’ve declined their $5.5MM club option on infielder Yangervis Solarte, per a team announcement. He’ll instead earn a $750K buyout. However, because Solarte does not yet have six full years of Major League service, he’ll remain on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster as an arbitration-eligible player for the time being. It seems decidedly unlikely, though, that he’ll reach arbitration with the Jays. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Solarte for a $5.9MM salary through arbitration, and it’d obviously make little sense for Toronto to buy out an option that was already cheaper than what he might otherwise earn in arbitration.
Solarte, 31, was acquired from the Padres last offseason in exchange for prospects Jared Carkuff and Edward Olivares. At the time, he was coming off a fairly productive four-year run to open his big league career, having batted a combined .267/.327/.419 (105 OPS+) through 2061 plate appearances with the Yankees and Padres (with most of that work coming as a Padre, where pitcher-friendly Petco Park was his home).
Solarte seemed poised for a solid offensive season but instead faceplanted with a .226/.277/.378 slash in 506 PAs with Toronto. He did swat 17 home runs, but his OBP woes and career-worst defensive ratings led WAR to view him as a sub-replacement-level player in 2018. It’s possible that Toronto could try to cut Solarte loose and try to bring him back at a lower rate, but it’s also possible that he’ll simply be passed through waivers and, upon clearing, hit the open market as a free agent.
That sucks for solarte
His time with Jays is done. They’ve got so much depth in the infield
See? This is why that extension wasn’t smart for him. It was almost entirely in club option form.
Hard to get guaranteed money as a player with his pedigree without giving up some leverage.
He got no guaranteed money
I remember taking my friend to his first game at Fenway and having it end with Solarte dropping a routine pop up and then me buying butterfingers for my whole row
That’s ok I definitely would take him in Milwaukee over Perez
Solarte doesn’t play short though
No but he does play all over the infield
not very well though
He’s probably that lowkey kind of acquisition that really improves a team because of his versatility and power.
Solarte is a great guy. I hope things work out well for him.
It was just a down year for Yangervis Solarte. His wife succumbed to cancer and with three young children to support well that is just tough. I’m sure he will be back…
thats a good point he had a tragic year
That wasn’t this year though. That was either 2016 or 2017 in SD.
Come on back to San Diego…Go Solarte!
He looked great at the end of April but fell of hard
There is always a place in San Diego for Solarte. In my 20 years of watching Padres baseball he stands out as the player who left it all out on the field every time he played abs he brought the energy to the yard on a daily basis.
Only other guys that stand out are, David Eckstein and Eric Owens, Chris Denorfia was also an absolute gamer.
As a jays fan it was very frustrating to watch Solarte in 2018,there was several times where he showed a lack of effort in the field and base paths( especially running out anything to first). His approach at the plate (swing for the fences) led to his dismal OBA (also just looked up that 11of his 17HR came in the first 46 games.
Finally! Someone said it!
I’m rooting for a comeback from him. Go Solarte! Prayers for your family.
Solarte will have no trouble finding a MLB job. Always liked the contact he made coupled with his low K rate. Add in his position versatility, and Solarte is almost a perfect fir for any team. Not saying the Jays should have kept him but just pointing out what a good player he is.
Sounds like a good buy low option for Atlanta. They had 0 pop off the bench minus flozuki this year.
“position versatility” doesnt matter if you cant play any of those positions particularly well
At this point Solarte is quality depth on a MLB club. Unfortuantely his personality might require him to play often. He has a high motor which has some value to clubs. He showed many flaws over 2018. He needs to lose 20lbs as well and focus on conditioning if he is to return to form and improve. This year he showed he couldn;t be a fulltime player.
Good trade to bring him over to the Jays. It was the over-the-top piece that made the difference. Sarcasm heavy.
The Jays have made quite a few acquisitions of middle-of-the-road guys or depth guys. Now the Jays are a team of fair to good position players and terrible pitching that will win no championships for years. I think the Jays need more like Solarte, Diaz, Grichuk, Hernandez[whom I actually like], Mcquire, Maile, Travis, McKinney, Morales, Pompey. Yeesh, what a sad sack of a club.
Gotta love the new manager, “I’ think I am suited for this club considering we might lose 90 games next year” – my paraphrase.
Hey jays are looking for a baseball operations scout intern. With your vast experience you should be a shoe in.
20 lbs indeed. Solarte knew ahead of time he’d be in a platoon situation. Adding the fact that Tulowitzki’s status was up in the air, and yet Solarte still came into the season overweight. It showed.
I do hope he finds a place to play and I hope he succeeds. A very likable player with his genuine enthusiasm.
I don’t see much talk about pitching. We seriously need more good pitchng and also players who can hit in the clutch. We have enough power, now we need much better pitching and people who can drive in runs. Daniel Murphy can hit and play 2nd once in awhile. You saw what Boston did and I hate them as much as any Yankee fan, but they did everything right. They hit in the clutch and had great pitching too. We need to do that and not pay out huge contracts with no return on the investment.