The Angels are reportedly sending pitcher Griffin Canning to the Atlanta Braves for Jorge Soler
MLB Trade Rumors: The Anaheim Angels and Atlanta Braves are kicking off the offseason with a trade, as Griffin Canning is reportedly going from the Angels to Atlanta in exchange for DH Jorge Soler.
Soler signed a 3 year, $42 million deal with the San Francisco Giants prior to the 2024 season, but was shipped out to Atlanta, along with our old friend Luke Jackson, at the trade deadline in a deal that sent Tyler Matzek and Sabin Ceballos to the Bay. Soler put up a .241/.338/.442 slash line, good for a 121 OPS+, between the two teams in 2024, and has $32 million left on his deal.
Canning, 28, is a righthanded starting pitcher who is entering his final year of arbitration-eligibility, and is scheduled to be a free agent after the 2025 season. A second rounder for the Angels in 2017, he has struggled in his career to be both effective and healthy for a sustained period of time. In 2024, he put up a career high 171 innings (his previous career high, in 2023, was 127 IP) over 31 starts and a relief appearance, but allowed a 5.19 ERA and 5.26 FIP.
Canning will still be relatively cheap in his final arbitration season — MLB Trade Rumors projects him to be at $5.1 million for 2025 — and of course, the Braves can always just non-tender him if the next month-plus progresses in a way that suggests that he is surplus to their plans. He gives Atlanta rotation depth for a relatively inexpensive price, and gets Soler, and his salary off the books.