Jorge Soler is the Angels answer to the DH question, but was he the best option?

The Angels entered the offseason with numerous holes to fill, and while their work shouldn't be complete, they addressed perhaps the most pressing issue before the calendar even turned to November. By acquiring Jorge Soler for nothing, they filled the DH role which was nothing short of pitiful in 2024.

In recent years, the strategy of how to employ a DH has changed for MLB teams. Rather than locking in a slugger without a defensive position to fill the role every day, many teams now utilize a rotating DH concept, preferring to use the spot the keep various important hitters fresh. The Angels went into the 2024 season intentionally trying this approach.

Well, in order for this strategy to work a team needs both enough quality hitters to rotate through the position and adequate depth to cover in the field while the stars take advantage of "half a day off." The Angels had neither in 2024. The Halos had 16 different players play at least two games or more at DH in 2024. The position produced a stomach-turning .206/.284/.323 slash line. They tallied 12 home runs and put up a 73 wRC+. In short, the Angels' designated hitters were 27% worse at hitting than a league-average player. Not good for a position where the only job is to... hit.

Jorge Soler will bring stability to the Angels' DH spot, but was he the best option?

Jorge Soler has been a productive power hitter for quite a long time now. While he probably won't reach his juiced ball peak of 48 dingers in a season, his 21 long balls, .241/.338/.442 slash line and 119 wRC+ from last year are a welcome addition to a lineup that seriously lacked pop last season. He'll take over as the primary DH as the Angels reverse course on their DH-by-committee approach. It's a welcome sign too, after all, the most commonly used DH last season was Willie Calhoun who was so atrocious he was D'FA'd in August.

Soler brings another added benefit as well. He can occasionally play the outfield. He doesn't really do it all that well, but hey, he's played an average of 40-ish games in the corner outfield spots the last few seasons.

The fit, however, isn't completely perfect. Soler is another right-handed bat who joins an already right-handed heavy lineup, especially when considering the power factor. Nolan Schanuel is the only lefty-swinging regular, and his .357 career SLG doesn't add much oomph to the lineup. Luis Rengifo switch-hits but is a much more powerful hitter from the right side than the left. Outside of that, it's all right-handed bats.

There was a free-agent DH option the Angels could've pursued instead that would have added power and done so from the left side. Almost-Angel Joc Pederson was sitting out on the open market ripe for the picking, before ultimately signing with the Texas Rangers. Would Pederson have been the better get?

For one, the salary numbers are close. Soler has two years at a $16 million AAV left on his deal. Pederson signed a more complicated contract, but for all intents and purposes, it's essentially a two-year deal with an $18.5 million AAV.

Pederson's career line is .241/.342/.469 with a 120 wRC+ versus Soler who is the owner of a .243/.331/.464 mark with a 113 wRC+. Pretty similar, right? Except, Pederson has some extreme platoon splits with a career OPS of .630 against southpaws. Soler, on the other hand, has a more balanced split. He naturally hits lefties better, to the tune of an .869 OPS, but his .770 career OPS against righties is respectable enough.

Pederson has been so bad against lefties that he pretty much never faces them anymore. In addition, his outfield defense has become so brutal that he didn't play there at all in 2024. You might think, so what? Pederson would have been great as the everyday DH against righties, and against lefties he sits and Trout can take over and get off his feet.

That would have been a solid plan, except for the fact that you then need to worry about who would replace Trout in center against lefties. The answer is Mickey Moniak, a left-handed hitter who is unfathomably bad against southpaws with a .453 career OPS against them.

At that point, it's clear that Soler fits better given the other players who would be pressed into action when Trout or someone else needs a DH day, and as an added bonus, his slightly lower salary allowed the team to fortify the back end of the rotation with Kyle Hendricks as the combo of Soler and Hendricks will make as much as Pederson alone this season.

The Angels still could use a lefty power bat, and unfortunately, those are in short supply at this point in the offseason. With that said, the Soler trade was an extremely savvy one and may end up being Perry Minasian's best move this offseason.

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