Ranking Replacements Within Kansas City Royals Organization

2.) Jorge Soler

No, Soler will not be taking over first base for Hosmer—that will likely be Moss—but he will be getting Hoz’s at-bats. The popular consensus seems to be that Moore whiffed on the Wade Davis/Soler trade, but Soler still has a real shot to change fans’ opinions.

Since debuting with the Chicago Cubs in 2014 as a 22-year-old, Soler hasn’t done much to impress outside of his 24-game audition that year and a stellar postseason performance in 2015. Still, the one thing that Soler has lacked that would almost certainly allow him to take his game to the next level is regular major league at-bats.

Between a crowded outfield in Chicago and various injuries, Soler never got more than 404 plate appearances in a season. The Kansas City Royals certainly didn’t give him that chance in 2017. If he can be allowed to plug away in the lineup day after day, perhaps he can reach the potential that made him a top prospect coming out of Cuba.

After all, let’s not forget that ball he absolutely crushed on May 14 against the Orioles.

I mean, wow.

Moore shipped off perhaps the best closer in the game today, and arguably a trip to the postseason this year, to acquire Jorge Soler—a player who will be a useful piece in this newest wave of Kansas City Royals players.

He deserves every chance to live up to that in 2018. If he is not, then the front office is basically admitting they made a massive blunder by making this trade. It looks bleak now, but Soler has three more years to show us what he’s got. And what he’s got is a ton of power. If he can deliver, Soler could make this rebuild a lot quicker and be a dangerous middle-of-the-order bat.

Verdict: Ready to tee off at The K on a regular basis