TODAY: The Giants announced that Solarte has passed his physical (The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly was among those to tweet the news).
FRIDAY, 9:50am: If he makes the roster, Solarte will earn $1.75MM and can make another $250K via incentives, tweets Jon Heyman of the MLB Network. That seemingly indicates that Solarte’s deal is of the minor league variety, though it could also be a non-guaranteed MLB pact that comes with a 40-man spot. The team has yet to announce the signing.
9:17am: The Giants and free-agent infielder Yangervis Solarte have agreed to terms on a contract, reports Robert Murray of The Athletic (via Twitter). The deal is pending the completion of a physical. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reported yesterday that San Francisco had interest in the versatile veteran.
Solarte, 31, had a steady run of production between the Yankees and Padres from 2014-17 before seeing his offensive output unexpectedly crater upon a move from pitcher-friendly Petco Park in San Diego to the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre in Toronto. The switch-hitter didn’t debut in the Majors until he was 26, but he quickly acclimated himself and hit a combined .267/.327/.419 with 57 homers, 99 doubles and six triples through his first 2061 plate appearances.
Last offseason, the Padres flipped Solarte and the remainder of what looked to be a club-friendly contract — he was earning $4MM in 2018 and had a pair of club options worth a combined $13.5MM for 2019-20 — to the Blue Jays in exchange for prospects Edward Olivares and Jared Carkuff. The transition back to the AL East was a rough one for Solarte, however, and his season concluded with a disappointing .226/.277/.377 batting line in 506 plate appearances. Following that showing, the Jays declined his $5.5MM option, making him a free agent.
Though the 2018 season wasn’t a good one for Solarte, there were still some positives. He remained an exceptionally difficult player to strike out, whiffing in just 14.2 percent of his plate appearances. Solarte’s line-drive rate actually increased over his more productive 2017 season and over his career mark, as well. It’d be fair to attribute some of his poor showing to a major drop in his batting average on balls in play (.233), though it should also be pointed out that his low mark in that regard isn’t as unfortunate as it seems; Solarte’s 28 infield flies tied him for the sixth-most in baseball, and popping up at that rate will naturally reduce a players BABIP. Pop-ups have been an issue at times for Solarte in his career, but never more so than last year, when he held the dubious distinction of tying Mike Moustakas for the Major League lead in infield-fly rate (19.2 percent).
All of that said, Solarte isn’t long removed from being a reasonably productive bat, and he can help the Giants by serving as a depth option at any of the four infield positions, as he has at least 264 innings at each slot. While he’s not a premium defender at any of those positions, he doesn’t rate disastrously at any of the four, either. As a low-cost bench option for a team that has seen as many recent infield injuries as the Giants, Solarte is sensible addition. And, if he’s able to bounce back to his previous levels of production, the Giants could well find themselves with a tradeable commodity on their hands this summer.
Our months-long odyssey is finally over.
YAWNgervis Solarte.
These are the moves we should have been making for years. Instead we got the Shark and Cueto with 50 million annual bucks. Not worth it at all. I like all of the minor league signings. When you stock em, 1 or 2 is bound to work. And better than paying millions for washed up vets.
I’d argue the Giants have been making these deals for the better part of a decade at least. How else would they have reaped the benefits of the likes of Andres Torres, Ryan Vogelsong 2.0, Gregor Blanco, Dereck Rodriguez, Pat Burrell, Alen Hanson, Pablo Sandoval 2.0, Santiago Casilla, just to name several off the top of my head. And that’s to say nothing of guys they bought low on, like Aubrey Huff, Melky Cabrera, Angel Pagan, Javier Lopez, and more recently Sam Dyson.
I could see the argument that the Giants have made fewer of these moves in recent years, or that they’ve been less successful at them. But to say the Giants have stopped taking fliers on guys like Solarte in order to sign guys like Cueto and Samardzija is faulty logic at best.
You’re absolutely right – they have added a number of these guys, but these adds got overshadowed by the big contracts you mentioned that seem like busts right now. For a GM to put it all together, there needs to be success in both areas – value signings and big-ticket signings. Hopefully the new GM makes smart moves in both areas.
I was speaking of value contracts. Not high priced bad contracts.
I’m saying it’s A LOT better long term to not go spending huge on washed up vets. It’s totally fine to get 3-4 value contracts from guys who were coming off an injury or bad year and not clog up the payroll. Like Melancon, Shark, Cueto, Denard Span did, etc etc etc etc. So many. I mean I’ve been saying we should have done that with the bullpen in 2013, it was getting bad then. Instead we kept resigning old washed up players on huge contracts, Affeldt, Lopez, Romo, and look where that got us? Eliminated from the 2016 playoffs and without doubt our biggest flaw the entire season and season before that. I’m just glad Evans is gone and we have a guy using different methods to find these “value” guys. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. But we will see and nothing is killing the payroll by doing these moves. That’s why I think these moves are win win instead of Evans taking huge chunks of payroll on guys just out of need. (Shark, Span, Melancon). Especially the Melancon one because everyone knew he pitched like the crap the end of the year before and he was injured! So we sing him and boom he’s injured and it’s like we didn’t know? Everyone knew! Lol
I’m kind of thinking the World Series win in 2014 says otherwise. Lmao. They also were a ninth inning implosion from going to a fifth game with the eventual World Series winner in the Cubs in 2016. It’s just been the last two years that have been an issue.
terror661. Injuries and off years are part of the game.. Where was the Giants hitting in 2009 and 2011? Where was the Giants hitting and pitching in 2013?
Hey I’m a veteran. Watch it.
Upvoted to counter those SF fans that dislike our military.
Thank you for your service!
Nice strawman.
I agree. You are a proud vet. Not washed up. You just like the wrong team! 😉
Thank you. I get that a lot about choosing the wrong team.
This is a great signing.
He only agreed to sign with SF because his great uncle (on his mother’s side) once served coffee to Bobby Bonds……
So this is the beginning of San Francisco’s rebuilding. It’s good they haven’t signed Harper. Spend your money on players like Solarte.
You’re right. Solarte is a much better fit than Harper. We don’t need an outfielder with power, who improves the team immensely, and possesses a level of popularity that makes the team relevant again. We need another aging infielder who gets on base 30% of the time and won’t hit home runs at Oracle.
They should’ve hired YOU! Who is this Farhan guy?! We need YOU…
Pretty sure he was being sarcastic dude. Pump the breaks a bit.
Agreed jrjalr. It’s a dodger fan post.
I was being sarcastic. Sorry.
Jokes are funnier when they have to be explained.
If we put our heads together we could build a team. I feel bad for San Francisco fans. Farhan makes bad player choices. He thinks Harper is a risky choice. I’m just guessing of course.
This has to be for defense/multi-positional resources because this guy has never hit about .260. Does have some power though.
With some of the crap moves the previous Giant front office has made, I’ll have to reserve judgement on Zaidi’s moves for now.
They are going to make a lot more moves before opening day. I believe the defence they are looking for is on the way and they will be better than most people think.
Defense? Solarte? He has some pop. That’s it.
From a Jays fan standout it looks like Solarte was a bit out of shape last year, looked a bit heavy in the mid section and faded badly in the second half.
Also he had a really good start with hitting for power and hit a bunch of home runs in the first two months. I think that got into his head and he started selling out for power and his numbers went into the tank.
Wish him the best in SF, he was very fun to have on the team
On what planet was Solarte very fun to have on the Jays last year?!
He did salsa dances after everything he did. It was fun while it lasted. Fans were loving him. Then his play fell off a cliff and the dancing went with it.
Reyes used to dance too. And do stupid handshakes. This was before he went a round with his wife.
Solarte didn’t come into 2018 in-shape or ready to play. Unacceptable when you make $4 or $5 million dollars. Salsa out of town.
You like dancing or baseball more?
I like them both together
I like millionaire baseball players that are still hungry to win, not millionaire baseball players that are just hungry. Unmotivated. That’s Solarte. Dance away.
no Harper now….
Doubtful they’ll be keeping Panik, Hanson, Sandoval, Solarte, & Longoria. Interesting development. Have a couple of other fringe infielders as well. My guess is they have a potential partner in place to potentially trade one of the above to. Craw will be in for 150+ and Belt will as well, baring one of his long DL trips. Maybe they give Hanson more reps in the OF. Keep stockpiling cheap guys, good move. More to come, I’m sure
If the Giants didn’t want Panik, they could of non tendered him, like they non tendered other players. Longoria is an unmovable contract.
By tendering him, they could potentially wait to see if he can stay healthy and put up good numbers, which would make him a decent trade piece in July if things have gone badly. Retaining him is a win win if he does well. Longoria is unmovable as is unless they take back a bad contract or they add an appealing piece such as Panik. I like Panik and I hope they keep him. The update on this story clears up the fact that it looks like they signed Solarte to a minor league deal so my original comment is probably moot. It will play itself out in the spring
the only reason to get rid of Sandoval is if he gets severely injured or completely collapses, he is making the minimum salary. panik and Hanson can be trade bait if they are out of it at the deadline- not for anything big but maybe lottery tickets or positional depth if they hold or build value
Panda nearing extinction.
I’d be surprised if Sandoval not on the team. Playing for the Giants on the Ref Sox dime. Wouldn’t make much sense not to keep him, costing the Giants the league minimum
Given the dearth of other moves, I can see the Giants giving Hansen more reps in the outfield.
Solarte would have led the Giants with 17 homers last year.
Sure, different park, different league. But still.
Can’t hit, can’t field, can’t get in shape. Can’t get any worse. I’m sure the Giants front office feels the same way.
Not sure what the Giants are thinking here. The ONLY logic is that there’s zero risk in a minor league or non guaranteed contract with low salary if he impresses and makes the club. Hey, you get what you pay for. I watched him in Toronto last year and he was a colossal failure.
The Giants have signed players to minor league contracts before. They got players that helped the them win World Championships. With albatross contracts, you are not getting what you pay for.
Are the Giants trying to win a championship? They aren’t acting like a team hungry to win this entire offseason. Not even close. Let’s stop pretending moves like Solarte is what they need to win. It’s not true. San Fran had starting pitching and strong bullpen step up for 3 World Series wins. They have questions in both areas along with a weak outfield. Nothing exciting.
Giants fans arent saying they will win or even be better next year with these minor league signings. They are saying they are happy with the signings bc the FO isnt handing out long term commitments to aging players.
The Giants aren’t trying to win a championship with this roster. I’m certain they are realistic and looking for a year or two down the road. It’s not like signing Harper will make them a contender. They have mediocre starting pitching and susceptible offense, even with Harper playing right. I think once spring training is in full bloom some decent outfielder will be desperate enough to take a deal and roster spot on the Giants to show he can still hit.
^Then I guess you two haven’t paid much attention to the Giants stories and comment threads. They think Harper will bring them to contention. They also believe they have a ton of money to spend. Clearly none of them are true. However, if you’re going with a short-term contract maybe sign a player that wants to compete at the highest level rather than collect a paycheck and entertain fans like a glorified mascot shaped like one.
I honestly didn’t notice anyone saying signing Harper would make the Giants contenders. At least not next year. A short-term contract to me means 4 or 5 years, plenty of time to help bring in the next class of Giants. I think any rational person knows the Giants are not contending next year regardless of who comes in.
No risk ,not worth getting emotional about this lol,there’s no logic to you because you know nothing about running a team or being on one,relax til June then complain unless that’s what you do?
No risk? Fine. What is the objective for the 2019 Giants? If they are aiming to win they aren’t showing it with the offseason they have had.
Solarte is the type of signing a mediocre or bad team takes a gamble on as a stop-gap. Giants keep insisting they are going for the playoffs. Not with this offseason.
Right on, he’s a great piece for depth, welcome to the team!
Pretty sure you don’t need a comma after “and” in the last sentence.
Most people on this site do not know how to write properly.
Buy OFs!!!
Ok Parra is a good piece
Didn’t go after Brantley, or Cruz, I would have like one or the other in LF, maybe they didn’t want to ply there.
After the last few years song and dances of Billy Hamilton, didn’t get him either.
Let’s not do something stupid like trade away Cueto for Ellsbury. A bad contract for a ridiculous contract.
Come on Farhan!
Let’s see UK? Broken Glass,A DH and a Guy can’t hit there way out of a paper bag and other won’t happen glad your not the GM it would be like the Marlins or worse
I noticed you have a UK at the end of your nickname. Do you live in Kentucky? Here in Kentucky UK is University of Kentucky Wildcats.
Fans can be brutal and forget that only a few have made it past AAA ball. Some don’t even make it to rookie ball. I’m one of those so I can’t really say this player sucks or what not. If you’re really a fan, just give it time and give support. Hopefully, these signings become significant whether they make the team and stick or traded for some prospects.
I sure hope Harper gets sign real soon. I would not want to see him in a dodger uniform.
Harper and Machado will wait until late March to try to get long contracts. It is reported that they have not been offered long contracts. Dodger Manager Roberts said that the Dodger are set in the outfield.
Dodgers have no use for Harper. I would rather see that kind of money spent on a few average players. That way you have a deep bench.
I’m going to quote the movie “top gun”. Harpers ego writes checks his body can’t cash.
Did anyone notice the first three letters of his name. SOL.
We all better stop picking on him. If he reads any of this he might get mad and have a bad season.
As a padres fan, I wish solarte well.
I Like The Signing. . . It reminds me of the kike Hernandez type player. Alittle older for sure. But bench guy, versatile who can move around. With POP. Love it. . . 400 ABs spread around. And insurance for injury. . . This will work on paper right now. And we’ll see. . . . . . .
I need to ask…why no mention at all in this whole piece about how Solarte lost his wife to cancer in September 2016? Instead a sentence announcing simply that “his offensive output unexpectedly crater(ed) upon a move from pitcher-friendly Petco Park in San Diego to the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre in Toronto…” Ya think??? This stats-only take discredits analytics. Numbers without context are a fool’s pursuit. I LOVE MLBTR, but this is an egregious omission. C’mon, MLBTR, you can do better than this. I’ve seen it.
As I’m sure many of us are, I’m praying for Solarte and his family. Praying he has a huge bounce back season now having had some time to heal. I see him as a huge sleeper!!
Yang Can Cook.
I liked Solarte when the Yankees picked him up rule 5. Was upset they traded him for Headley. I thought he was a good role player and Chase was past his prime. Best if luck to Solarte and best of luck to Torreyes on the Twins. Another good role player I wish the Yankees kept
I just read the comment above about Solarte losing his wife to cancer. That really sucks. Torreyes wife was ill last season and he had to take time off to be with her. Sad… No one should have to feel that pain
Don’t let this distract you from the fact that Hector is gonna be running 3 Honda Civic’s with spoon engines. On top of that he just came into Harry’s and ordered 3 t66 turbo’s with NOS’s and a Motec System Exhaust.
And yamsi that is overplayed and not very funny. We can probably go ahead and drop that now.