Kansas City Royals: Jorge Soler’s power numbers are legitimate

Should the Kansas City Royals look to sign Jorge Soler to an extension?

It has a very long time since the Royals have had a legitimate power source in their everyday lineup for more than a year or two at a time. Soler could be that guy; he’s only 28 years old. If he has another productive partial season in 2020 and stays healthy, the Royals should find a way to lock him down for four-to-five years after the season is over.

Since Soler is pretty much a DH, he might come cheaper than a power hitter who is also an acceptable defensive player. In 2019, Soler accumulated an Ultimate Zone Rating of -3.4 in rightfield and has never earned a positive number there. His Defensive Runs Saved last year was -9. Designated hitter is the best place for him.

Few teams these days look to lock down the DH with just one player. Everyday designated hitters are becoming rarer and rarer, but if you want an idea of how much it might cost to keep Soler, you needn’t look further than at Nelson Cruz.

Although Cruz played his share of rightfield, he’s predominantly a DH. Cruz has never earned more than $14.25 million in a season. While his biggest paydays came at a significantly older age (34-38), he was a proven power hitter by the time he started earning the big bucks. Soler already is a season ahead of Cruz as the latter didn’t have his first big power season until 2009 when he hit 33 at the age of 28.

However, as good of a power source as Cruz as been over the years, he has never hit 48 home runs (career-high 44 in 2015 at the age of 34). His career-high in ISO was last year, at .328. Before that, his highest ISO in a full season was .268 in 2016.

Soler is younger, with several prime seasons ahead of him. It is not unreasonable to start at that $14.25 million mark Cruz was making in his best-paid years. Yes, Soler is younger, but he does not have the proven history Cruz did when he started earning that kind of money.

If Soler has a nice partial year, and if the Royals can live with someone who is going to lock down the DH spot, then before going into arbitration next year, Kansas City could offer five years and $75 million. That would take Soler through his age 33 season. It is a fair offer for a proven power hitter who cannot play the field.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a proven power hitter in the lineup every day for several years? Wouldn’t it be nice to have an affordable player who could approach 40 homers every season? The Kansas City Royals could make Jorge Soler that player the Royals have never had!