3 teams that could actually take Jorge Soler off Angels' hands in an offseason trade

The Los Angeles Angels need to fill their vacancies in the rotation, bullpen, third base and the outfield, but perhaps the greatest need for the ballclub is trading Jorge Soler and his expiring $13 million deal. Mike Trout is unequivocally a full-time designated hitter at this point in his career and Jo Adell is a far-better right fielder than Soler, so rostering Soler makes no sense for this team next season. In theory, I guess Soler could play more left field next season? However, everybody knows how that story will end -- he will play poor outfield defense and will spend time on the injured list once again.

The framework of a Soler trade likely entails the Angels assuming another suboptimal contract, but there still could be some trade partners for the Angels to get off of Soler's deal and remain financially and competitively advantageous next year.

3 teams that could actually take Jorge Soler off Angels' hands in an offseason trade

1. Colorado Rockies

Just in terms of just building a semi-competitive baseball team, the Rockies could use a player like Jorge Soler. The Rockies ranked dead-last in offensive fWAR of DHs last season, and Soler has shown that he can hit TANKS in Coors Field. The longest home run of Soler's career came at Coors Field in 2024 as a member of the San Francisco Giants, when the slugger blasted a 478 ft. home run off of Ryan Feltner. That was the second-longest hit home run in Coors Field the past three seasons, with the longest belonging to Mike Trout's 485 ft. bomb on September 20th, 2025.

The Rockies only have three-years, and $81 million ($27 million AAV) of Kris Bryant to trade back for Soler, which is a non-starter. So, the Rockies would simply want to cheaply add a theoretically above average DH for competition's sake (honestly the Angels should just trade Soler to the Rockies for a bag of balls at this point). That's not a bad idea for one of the worst-teams ever? Especially considering the expiring CBA causing small-market teams to be more motivated to spend money.

2. Chicago White Sox

There might be a world in which the Angels could flip Soler, a prospect or two and some money to the White Sox in exchange for Luis Robert Jr., but the White Sox would much rather move on from Andrew Benintendi. The White Sox utilized their $20 million club option Robert Jr. for 2026, and have one final $20 million club option for 2027 before their star centerfielder hits free agency. Meanwhile, Benintendi is in-line for a guaranteed ~$17.1 million next year and $15 million for 2027.

Adding Robert Jr. and getting off of Soler's deal in one swoop would represent a solid win-now decision for the Angels, but Robert Jr. has a similar risk proposition that Grayson Rodriguez has. In terms of available centerfielders, Robert Jr. is one of the more interesting names to monitor in that he is cheaper financially and his trade value is lower for an impact MLB player. Depending on which prospects the Angels would have to send to Chicago for them to take on Soler, this might be the most prudent move out there for the Angels.

A one-for-one trade of Soler for Benintendi does make some intrinsic sense for the Angels in that they clear out a DH in Soler, and add a left-handed hitting left fielder. The issue is that an extra year for a 31-year-old Benintendi who is just not the same player he was while with the Boston Red Sox would hurt more than it helps. Benintendi did have a resurgent 2025 season where he slashed .240/.307/.431/.738 with a 17% K%, but he did so in just 116 games played which were the fewest he'd played since 2016 (excluding 2020). Benintendi tied his career-high with 20 home runs last year? His 16 doubles were also the fewest he had in a season since 2016.

3. San Diego Padres

The Padres' DHs last season were primarily Gavin Sheets, current free agent Luis Arraez, current free agent Ryan O'Hearn and defensive wizard Manny Machado. Sheets was a below average DH, as the left-handed hitter slashed .216/.288/.339/.628 as a DH last season which are all bad marks. If the Padres lose both O'Hearn and Arraez, then perhaps they would take a flier on Soler as their full-time or platoon DH next season.

If the Padres want to shed payroll, they could see if the Angels want to assume two more years and a $20 million AAV of Joe Musgrove? Like with a Benintendi trade, perhaps that makes some semblance of sense for both sides? The Angels are definitely not touching Xander Bogaerts, Jake Cronenworth and Yu Darvish.