The Angels and Braves wasted no time in negotiating the first significant trade of the offseason as the teams announced Thursday that they have agreed to a designated hitter trade Jorge Soler to Anaheim in exchange for Righty Griffin Canning. According to reports, no money will change hands in the deal. The Angels will assume the entire remaining two years and $26 million of Soler’s contract. Atlanta, meanwhile, will have to fight for Canning’s salary in his final season of arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a salary of $5.1 million for Canning, who will be a free agent next winter.

Soler was considered one of the most obvious trade candidates in all of baseball this offseason, given his defensive limitations and the presence of Marcell Ozuna in Atlanta. The Braves acquired him at the deadline out of desperation, needing help for an injury-plagued lineup. The plan always seemed to be to burden Soler in the outfield for a few months and seek a trade in the offseason (which is why Soler ranks at the top of our list of the top 35 trade candidates of the 2024-25 offseason).

The 32-year-old Soler (33 in February) will add a thunderous bat and defensively limited skills to the Angels’ roster. He signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Giants last winter following a 36-homer campaign in Miami and has now been traded twice in the first year of the contract. However, this is not due to a lack of production. On the contrary, Soler had a solid season at the helm, slashing .241/.338/.442 in 142 games. He was particularly productive starting in June, boasting a .263/.366/.489 batting line and hitting 15 of his 21 home runs in 386 plate appearances.

Soler simply wasn’t a good fit on Atlanta’s roster long-term, as Ozuna had to retain a $16 million club option. Both players offer tremendous power, but are at the lower end of the scale in defense in the outside corners. As luxury taxpayers, the Braves would have had to pay overage penalties in addition to the $13 million Soler owes annually.

The game is easier for the Angels. He will be a regular batsman for a Halos club that has brought in a journeyman Willie Calhoun as his primary option at the DH position in 2024. Eighteen players DHed for the Angels last year, and their overall performance (.222/.299/.328) was the fifth-worst in the sport in terms of wRC+ (80). Even if Soler doesn’t quite recapture his stellar performance in 2023, his performance in 2024 represents a monumental improvement over what the Angels received last year through the committee approach to the DH spot in their lineup.

Soler is now one of five Angels who have a guaranteed contract through the 2025 season and are joining Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, Tyler Anderson And Robert Stephenson. Add in an arbitration process that could cost upwards of $31-32 million before possible non-tenders (according to projections previously cited by Swartz), and the Halos are looking at a payroll bill of about $168 million ( via RosterResource) as the entire offseason lies ahead of them. They are currently about $58 million below the first luxury tax threshold.

For the Braves, the trade reduces a burdensome contract while adding another contender to their rotation competition Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schellenbach (and, once healthy, Spencer Strider). Canning, a former second-round pick and top prospect, has shown promise at times with the Angels — particularly in 2020 and 2023 — but has not yet established himself as a viable starter in the major leagues. He’s coming off a season in which he pitched a career-high 171 2/3 innings, but did so with a lackluster 5.19 earned run average. His 17.6% strikeout rate, 8.9% walk rate, 40.7% ground ball rate, and 1.63 HR/9 mark are all worse than league average.

However, Canning only logged 23,127 innings with a 4.32 ERA and much more promising strikeout and walk rates of 25.9% and 6.7%, respectively. A decline in both command and fastball velocity (94.7 mph in 2023, 93.4 mph in 2024) contributed to a decline on the mound. However, Canning entered the 2024 season with strikeout and walk rates above league average and a good post-hype pedigree. He isn’t guaranteed a rotation spot in Atlanta, but if he is offered a contract – not a sure thing – he would be in contention AJ Smith Shawver, Ian Anderson, Bryce Elder And Hurston Forest Rep for a spot at the back of the starting lineup.

Canning has more than five years of service and therefore cannot be transferred to the minors without his consent. This lack of options leaves open the possibility that the Braves could try to sign him to a one-year deal well below his projected arbitration salary and, failing that, decline to offer him a contract. That would make the Soler trade a direct salary dump, but that’s still not an entirely bad outcome for the Braves. If Canning actually receives a contract, he could also be used as a swingman or long reliever.

The Braves paid the luxury tax in both 2023 and 2024. Based on the state of their books, it’s very likely they’ll do this again in 2025. Paying Soler $13 million would have come with a luxury tax of at least 50% — possibly more, depending on the amount of her remaining offseason spending. For a club with holes to fill out the rotation and most likely at shortstop as well, this was an untenable setup. In effect, Atlanta is purchasing a rotary flyer cheaply, creating greater financial flexibility to meet other offseason needs. The Angels, meanwhile, are moving a potential fifth starter/non-selection candidate to provide a significant upgrade to a lackluster offense. The Angels’ roster is still riddled with holes, so this may just be the first of many additions as the team looks to compete next season. It’s a good start as long as it’s just the first domino in a larger sequence.

Mike Rodriguez first reported that Soler was traded to the Angels. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Canning was returning to Atlanta. David O’Brien of The Athletic reported that no money changed hands in the trade.