Report: Jorge Soler Won't Opt Out of Marlins Contract; Owed $15M in 2023

Jorge Soler will return to the Miami Marlins after exercising his $15 million player option for the 2023 MLB season, according to Craig Mish of SportsGrid.

The veteran outfielder caught fire with the Atlanta Braves in the second half of the 2021 campaign, slugging .524 and hitting 14 home runs in 55 games. He carried that form into the postseason and was crowned World Series MVP after his three home runs and six RBI helped propel Atlanta to a title.

Unfortunately for the Marlins, Soler fell back to earth in a big way this year. In 72 games, he had 13 homers, 34 RBI and a .207/.295/.400 slash line. Per FanGraphs, his .305 wOBA and 98 wRC+ were his lowest since 2017.

Soler's season ended in mid-July. The Marlins placed him on the injured list July 23 because of lower-back spasms, and he never returned to the field.

It continued a trend for the Cuban. He has played a full 162-game season once in his career and eclipsed 100 games on only two other occasions since arriving in the majors in 2014.

Speaking to reporters Sept. 12, the 30-year-old said he and his agent hadn't yet given much thought to whether he would trigger his option or become a free agent. He did, however, reference the improvement he and the Marlins would need to make in 2023.

"It was not the ideal season for any of us, not for me, not for the whole team," he said. "We didn't prove the expectation that everybody was actually waiting for. We just have to keep working hard and work for the next season."

From a financial perspective, staying in Miami is the sensible decision. It's difficult to envision another team gives Soler a $15 million salary in 2023 on the back of such an underwhelming season.

The Marlins presumably expected this outcome as well and slotted him into their lineup as the starting left fielder or designated hitter.

Getting back to full health and having a clean slate may help Soler rebound next year. Some of his underlying metrics raise cause for concern, though.

Soler has struck out at a high volume across his career with a 27.2 percent strikeout rate.

In 2019, he offset that by leading the American League in home runs (48) and slugging .569 with the Kansas City Royals. As he ages and his power starts to wane, his strikeouts will become a bigger problem because when he does make contact, what used to be home runs will start to stay in the park.

There are signs the shift is happening.

Soler's isolated power hit a peak of .304 and has declined each year since then, hitting .193 in 2022. According to Baseball Savant, his hard-hit percentage has fallen from a high of 51.1 percent in 2020 to 47.0 in 2021 and 43.6 in 2022 as well. His home run to fly ball rate across the last two years (16.7 and 17.8 percent) is below his career average of 19.4 percent, per FanGraphs.

If he can stay healthy, Soler's production could tick back upward, but Miami might find itself having to work around his limitations even more at the plate.