(Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports)
As major league teams scattered for the annual midsummer All-Star Break, and front offices began gearing up for the trade deadline frenzy to come, the concept of a realistic trade market for Jorge Soler seemed far-fetched at best. Trapped in an epic season-long slump—the KC Royals’ slugger took an awful .186/.279/.320 slash and seven home runs into the Break—imagining a deal developing for Soler before the July 30 trade deadline sized up as an exercise in futility.
Strange and surprising things happen in baseball, however, and such is now the case with Soler.