The Giants have interest in veteran infielder Yangervis Solarte, according to Alex Palovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link).
While this connection is decidedly less splashy than another recently reported expression of interest, Solarte seems to be a readily achievable target. He is looking for a new opportunity after the Blue Jays declined a $5.5MM club option and then non-tendered him.
A 31-year-old infielder, Solarte is capable of lining up anywhere in the infield, though he has spent most of his time at third base and second base. Solarte has played some shortstop, though he has logged fewer innings there than he has at first.
If he’s a utility piece, then, the switch-hitter is more of a bat-first option who probably shouldn’t be relied upon too heavily at shortstop. That profile arguably suits the Giants well, given that they’ll likely play Brandon Crawford nearly every day at shortstop but could stand to find complementary pieces at second and third base to go with Joe Panik and Evan Longoria.
Solarte has at times been a solid overall contributor. From 2014 through 2017, he turned in over two thousand plate appearances of .267/.327/.419 hitting with 57 home runs. Defensive metrics have graded Solarte as an average or slightly below-average performer.
Last year, though, was a rough season in all respects. Solarte topped five hundred plate appearances for the fourth time in his five MLB seasons, but slashed a meager .226/.277/.378 while receiving his lowest-ever marks defensively. No doubt a .233 batting average on balls in play reflected some poor fortune, though Statcast was not particularly enamored of his batted-ball profile, crediting him with a .284 wOBA and .299 xwOBA.
Now in search of an opportunity to bounce back, Solarte will surely be looking for the best chance to carve out a significant role. If he lands in San Francisco, it stands to reason that Solarte would battle with Pablo Sandoval and Alen Hanson for a roster spot and/or position on the depth chart.
When healthy id take Pablo and Hanson over him
Likely would be a minor league deal with an invite to ST. Makes total sense. Majority of this organization will be changed in next 2 years.
Already new on the 40 man:
Adon, Barrett, Bergen, Coonrod, Gott, Lopez, Pomeranz, Venditte, Webb, Valera, Ferguson
That’s over 25% turnover as it is. Here are more guys who could be added:
Vogt, Rupp, Parra, Andreoli, Rivera, Gustave, Gerber, Anderson
The giants need outfielders. C’mon SF.
Signing him would enable Hanson to play more OF. Yes there’s better options on the market than Hanson in the OF, but I guess that would be the plan. Then cut Sandoval
Sandoval offensively is better than Solarte and was arguably, despite his build, better defensively as well. I’d say this is just for depth if Crawford or Panik get injured, and since Sandoval will probably not be 100% healthy on opening day, he could get a few weeks of playing time as a reserve.
Yeah solarte is pretty tough to watch in the field.
Why would you get rid of Sandoval when he’ll be playing for the minimum? He’s still on Boston’s payroll
He had his ups and downs with the Jays last year, but I think he was also overworked. The good news is that he can really dance after he hits a homer.
Overworked? Is that why he wasn’t running out groundballs throughout the entire 2nd half of the season? He is lazy.
And out of shape. He knew he was coming in to be a utility guy. Did he lose weight to prepare for middle infield? No.
How about trading for Edwin to play first and signing an outfielder
Are you assuming Belt goes to the OF or does Belt get traded too?
No they need outfielders and pitching
I don’t want to dislike Solarte. Hopefully he ends up coming back to SD.
Play him at second. Let Panik go even thou everyone thinks he’s so good. He’s a bust.
Panik to OF. Belt to LF.
How is Panik a bust?
Except for 1 season he’s a 1.2/3 WAR player.
Maybe there’s other moves a cooking if they end up signing him. Possibly have a suitor for Panik or Longoria and would like to have him as a stopgap. Doesn’t make much sense, otherwise. Outfield is where they need to keep adding. Got Pablo for league minimum with Boston picking up the rest of his salary so I’d think he’s safe and Hanson was pretty explosive at times
Agreed. Problem is that solarte is a better LH than he is RH at the plate. They already have a ton of that…Belt, Panik, Crawford, Hanson, Duggar, Sandoval, Parra, Shaw.
Hope he finds a home. His wife passed away a few years ago. He seems like a good guy from what little I have seen of him.
I’m surprised the Orioles didn’t go after a guy like this, low-risk high reward.
He is lazy and out of shape. Fix those 2 things and get a manager who can keep him engaged and he can probably provide above replacement production. Otherwise, buyer beware.
Bring them all in and battle it out and earn a Position on the team,more to come,plenty of time
san fran had interest in jacoby ellsbury.. what happened?
I don’t think they were ever interested in Ellsbury. That was more speculation on the writers thinking there was a match. The Giants would never trade Cueto for Ellsbury
In fairness, it was not some writer speculating. The story from a reliable source reported that the Giants had discussed Ellsbury. Of course, if they’re doing their jobs, they are discussing every possibility. I do agree in that I don’t think they were really interested in Ellsbury. There’s a big difference between discussing some guy, and being interested. Although they may have had minor interest, if the Yankees were going to pay a bit of his salary, and just give him away.
Could only see it if it was Longoria for Ellsbury
Ellsbury getting traded is wishful thinking by the New York media and Yankee fans.
OF market is stuck until Harper signs.
Yes Solarte is versatile but he’s also better from left side, like Panik, like Hanson and really AT&T aka Oracle is where LHH go to die.
On a minor league NRI it’s just a guy taking reps and spring AB’s
I guess when Zaidi says the plan is to get younger he means the plan is to get older.
What are you talking about 31 is young for the giants
hahaha, good call, I guess Zaidi didn’t clarify how much younger!
Giant interested in everything.. will they pull the trigger? Reminds me of the Cardinals.
I would rather stick with what we got than add Solarte on a major league deal.
I wonder if Jeff was tugging the string a little bit when he said Solarte could line up at any of the infield positions. He did not say that he could actually play any of those positions, which anybody who watched him last year will not answer in the affirmative.
Didn’t Solarte have a lot of off the field personal issues he had to deal with?
He had to deal with his wife dying and taking care of his young children. He is a class act person.
Yeah, he seemed like a great dude and the players seem to love him. He started the year with the Jays hitting pretty well but he fell off.
I think he would be a solid bench player, but the Jays needed him to play almost every day and I think his play suffered because of it,
Yes. His diet.
Makes no sense.
At a boy Farhan, keep them coming! Smh.
Good guy. But no longer even a replacement level player.
Solarte signing with the Giants means Sandoval doesn’t have to eat alone.
Solarte played out of shape last season after being acquired to play a utility role. Not smart.
Giants should get used to this from an ex-Oakland executive. Your franchise is about to take a nosedive and you haven’t realized it yet.
The guy is a dog.
“If he’s a utility piece, then, the switch-hitter”
“Then” isn’t necessary. Doesn’t add to the sentence or your point. It goes without saying.
yanger management…