Brewers Rumors: Crew Interested In World Series MVP Jorge Soler

Now that the transaction freeze has been lifted, free agent rumors are coming out hot and heavy. Although the Brewers haven’t made a move yet, they have been mentioned to be in on a couple of players. Add another to the list.

According to a report from Hector Gomez and Mike Rodriguez, the Milwaukee Brewers are among a number of teams with interest in World Series MVP Jorge Soler.

Several teams, including a number of National League teams are pursuing Jorge Soler and the Brewers are one of the new names to the list. Whether their interest is new or just the report of their interest is new is something that we cannot distinguish right now, but on some level, this makes sense.

The latest Brewers rumors have the Crew as one of several teams interested in World Series MVP Jorge Soler.

Soler is an outfielder by trade, although the Brewers are pretty well set in that department right now. But, he can also serve as a designated hitter and Craig Counsell can rotate guys through that position to get playing time in the field, but Soler is a poor defender. Really, it would be best if Soler didn’t see much of the field at all.

Offensively, Soler brings power. Brewers fans saw him a little bit in the NLDS last year, but it was the World Series where Soler’s star shined brightest. In the World Series, Soler hit .300 with three home runs en route to winning the World Series MVP award.

For the regular season, Soler hit 27 home runs with a .223/.316/.432 slash line and a 97 OPS+ overall. However, he was traded mid-season from the Royals to the Braves for the second half. With the Braves, Soler hit .269/.358/.524 with 14 of his 29 home runs in nearly half the amount of games he had with the Royals.

If the Brewers are pursuing Soler, they believe that he’s going to be performing much more like he did with the Braves than with the Royals last season and that the second half breakout is legitimate. Soler’s offensive profile would fit extremely well at American Family Field as well.

According to the report from Mike Gonzalez, Soler is seeking a deal in the 3-to-5 year range. Such a long term contract would be unusual for the Brewers, especially for a poor defender who’s likely limited to being a DH going forward. This is the first time the Brewers can plan on a DH and maybe Stearns wants to go that route, especially if he believes Soler’s breakout is legit.

With so many teams interested in Soler’s services and his desire for a long-term contract, Milwaukee doesn’t appear to be a great landing spot. But David Stearns puts a call in on everybody and remains in every conversation to see if he can get good value where other teams don’t see it.

Free agency is just getting started, and this rumor will not be the last. The Brewers do need a bat, and we’ll probably see more connections between them and free agent sluggers over the coming days.