Kansas City Royals: Looking back at Wade Davis for Jorge Soler trade

Kansas City Royals fans were crushed when the organization decided to trade cyborg closer Wade Davis to the Cubs in exchange for outfielder Jorge Soler. How does that trade look as we reach 2018?

There were a lot of questions to be answered this time last year with the Kansas City Royals and one of them was what the team would do with Wade Davis. Davis had been one of the best players on the Royals’ team and was easily their best arm out of the bullpen.

When the Royals acquired Davis in late 2012, he was a “throw-in” with James Shields. The Royals initially used Davis as a starter and well… to be blunt, he was atrocious.

The Royals quickly found a role for Davis though and that was in the bullpen. He went on to dominate as a reliever, posting a 1.00 ERA in 2014 and 0.94 ERA in 2015. Both of those years saw the Royals go to the World Series.

In 2015, Davis took over as the team’s closer and notched 17 saves. He had 27 saves in 2016, a year in which the team finished at .500 and even contemplated trading the All-Star closer at the deadline.

Instead, the Royals held onto Davis and shipped him off to Chicago before the 2017 season even became a strong topic of conversation. In return, the Royals received outfielder Jorge Soler. Soler had potential, but there just wasn’t a place for him with the Cubs.

The Royals knew Soler would be a project. He wasn’t going to rise to the top in year one in Kansas City and boy were they right. Soler was even more of a bust in his inaugural year as a Royal than everyone had thought.

Soler had just 97 at bats for the Royals in 2017, slashing a measly .144/.245/.258 with six RBI and two home runs. He was also pretty lousy defensively, nearly costing the Royals a win when he decided to dive for a ball in the outfield in a one-run game.

More from Kansas City Royals

• This Plus-Money Bobby Witt Jr. Prop Bet is on Fire (Hit in 15/21 Games)!
• The Royals Need to Extend Bobby Witt Jr. Immediately
• DraftKings + FanDuel Kansas Promos: INSTANT $150 Bonus Plus Two Chances to Win!
• 3 Royals Players Who Won’t Be on the Roster Next Year
• LAST CHANCE to Claim $250 GUARANTEED Bonus With FanDuel and DraftKings Kansas Promos!

The Royals didn’t really have a place for Soler in 2017. Jorge Bonifacio turned heads as a rookie and Soler wasn’t good enough at the plate to be a regular at the designated hitter position.

While I didn’t really build up Soler there, we all knew that the guy was going to take some time to develop in Kansas City. This trade isn’t a complete joke yet though, as the Royals still have Soler under contract for three more seasons.

Davis, on the other hand, did not win a World Series in Chicago and didn’t re-sign with the Cubs. He recently inked a three year deal worth $52 million with the Colorado Rockies, which seems like an outlandish deal to give a 32 year old relief pitcher who has had some injuries in his career.

Obviously after year one, the edge would go to Chicago in the trade, but they didn’t retain Davis and didn’t accomplish their goals with him in their bullpen. If they had done both of those things, then yes, the Cubs would have easily “won” this trade.

If Soler steps it up in 2018 (maybe hits above .220 on the year and double digit home runs), I honestly think Royals fans can feel better about this deal moving forward. He certainly has the ability to become a star, but the Royals have to find a spot for him on the roster this year.

The truth is, we won’t know how this trade really worked out until the end of Soler’s four years are up in Kansas City. 2018 is the perfect year to prove that Soler was worth trading an All-Star closer for, as it’s a rebuilding year and the Kansas City Royals literally have nothing to lose.