Phillies Sign Former Braves and Marlins Outfielder to Minor League Deal
The Philadelphia Phillies have quietly added outfield depth ahead of the 2026 season, signing veteran outfielder Jorge Soler to a minor-league contract with an invitation to Major League spring training, the team announced Wednesday afternoon. The 33-year-old Cuban slugger, who has spent the last decade bouncing between contender and rebuilder rosters, represents a low-risk, potentially high-reward flier for a Phillies club looking to protect against regression or injury in a corner-outfield mix that currently features Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh, and Johan Rojas.
Soler, who will earn a prorated portion of the $1.75 million major-league minimum if he cracks the Opening Day roster, can also opt out of the deal on June 1 if he is not on the 26-man roster. The contract includes performance bonuses tied to plate appearances and up to $500,000 in incentives, a structure that reflects both the Phillies’ cautious optimism and Soler’s desire to re-establish himself as an everyday contributor after two injury-plagued and inconsistent seasons.
Once one of baseball’s most feared power hitters—remember the 48-homer outburst with Atlanta in 2019 that earned him a Silver Slugger and finished sixth in NL MVP voting—Soler’s career arc has taken several sharp turns since. Traded to Kansas City that winter, he posted a respectable .265/.354/.528 line in the shortened 2020 season, then opted out of 2021 entirely due to COVID concerns before resurfacing with the Braves midseason. Atlanta acquired him at the 2021 trade deadline for a prospect package that no longer stings, and Soler promptly delivered the first home run of the 2021 World Series, a mammoth shot off Nathan Eovaldi that helped propel the Braves to their first title in 26 years.
The Marlins, looking for a cornerstone bat after their surprise 2022 playoff run, signed Soler to a three-year, $36 million contract before the 2023 season. He rewarded them with 36 home runs and an .853 OPS in year one, but a nagging oblique injury and lower-back issues limited him to just 94 games in 2024, during which he hit .241/.338/.430 with only 12 homers. Miami, firmly in sell-off mode after trading Luis Arráez and Jazz Chisholm earlier in the year, declined Soler’s $13 million club option in November, making him a free agent for the second time in four offseasons.
For the Phillies, the fit is straightforward: right-handed power off the bench or in a strong-side platoon role, plus the outside chance that a full, healthy offseason restores some of the 2019 thunder. Philadelphia ranked just 19th in the majors in home runs from right-handed bats last season, and Castellanos’ second-half fade (.218/.278/.363 after the All-Star break) raised legitimate questions about his ability to anchor right field for another full year at age 34.
“Jorge still has 35-homer raw power when he’s right,” said one NL scout who watched Soler take early batting practice in Jupiter last week. “The bat speed is still plus, and he’s in better shape than he was last April. The question is health and consistency. If the Phillies can keep him on the field for 120-plus games, he’s a middle-of-the-order bat. If it’s another 90-game season, he’s still a useful bench piece against lefties.”
Soler’s splits bear that out. Since 2022, he owns a .925 OPS against left-handed pitching (compared to .742 against righties), and Citizens Bank Park’s short right-field porch plays perfectly to his opposite-field power stroke. The park factor for right-handed home runs at CBP ranked third in baseball last season, behind only Coors Field and Great American Ball Park.
The move also reunites Soler with Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long, who worked extensively with him during their overlapping tenures in Kansas City and Miami. Long is credited with helping Soler shorten his swing and incorporate the opposite field more consistently after the 2019 season, changes that briefly made him one of the game’s most dangerous pull-heavy sluggers.
From a roster-construction standpoint, Soler slots in behind Castellanos and Marsh on the depth chart but ahead of prospects Justin Crawford and Alek Thomas, both of whom are expected to open 2026 in Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Max Kepler, another right-handed power option signed to a similar minor-league deal last month, will compete for the same reserve outfield/platoon role. The Phillies are clearly prioritizing veteran insurance over blocking their top prospects, a luxury afforded by a farm system that suddenly ranks among baseball’s deepest after years of graduations and trades.
Financially, the signing is a drop in the bucket for owner John Middleton, whose payroll is projected to hover around $285 million once arbitration cases are settled. President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski has made a habit of these low-cost, upside gambles—think Corey Knebel in 2022, Michael Lorenzen in 2023, and Whit Merrifield last winter—and while the hit rate has been mixed, the cost has almost always been negligible.
Reaction around the league has been largely positive, if tempered. One rival executive texted Wednesday afternoon: “If he stays healthy, that’s a steal. If he doesn’t, you release him in May and move on. Classic Dombrowski depth move.”
Soler himself released a short statement through his agency, Beverly Hills Sports Council: “Excited for a new chapter in Philly. I feel great physically and can’t wait to get started. The fans here are passionate, and I want to help bring another championship to the city.”
Spring training doesn’t begin for another ten weeks, but the Soler signing gives Phillies fans an early reason for cautious optimism. In a division where the Braves and Mets both got younger and more athletic this winter, adding a proven October performer—even on a minor-league deal—feels like the kind of under-the-radar move that contending teams make when they’re trying to win right now.
For Jorge Soler, it’s another chance to remind the baseball world that the bat which once carried the 2019 Braves and the 2021 World Series champs still has plenty of life left in it. Whether that reminder comes in a Phillies uniform or somewhere else remains to be seen, but for the cost of a minor-league contract and a spring-training invite, Philadelphia is happy to find out.