Padres trade Yangervis Solarte to Blue Jays

The Padres have traded infielder Yangervis Solarte to the Blue Jays for outfielder Edward Olivares and reliever Jared Carkuff, according to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan and FanRag’s Robert Murray.

San Diego has been looking to move infielders all winter, with Solarte and the newly-acquired Chase Headley among the most likely candidates to be dealt. With Solarte now in Toronto and fellow infielder Ryan Schimpt sent to Tampa Bay, the Padres will move forward with Carlos Asuaje at second base, Freddy Galvis at short and Headley at third, pending more moves.

Solarte, 30, has the ability to play all four infield positions for the Jays and will provide an option behind the oft-injured Devon Travis and Troy Tulowitzki up the middle. He’ll join ex-Cardinal Aledmys Diaz as new infield options for the Jays, though today’s deal does not appear to make a trade of third baseman Josh Donaldson more likely.

Solarte hit .255/.314/.416 with 18 homers for the Padres last year, regressing a bit after a strong showing in 2016. He’s under control for three more seasons, earning $4.125 million in 2018 before club options for 2019 ($5.5 million) and 2020 ($8 million) kick in.

Olivares, 21, was not ranked by Baseball America among Toronto’s top 10 prospects after the year, but came in as the 18th-best prospect in the system in MLB.com’s latest rankings. He hit .269/.327/.468 in 120 games split between Single-A Lansing and Hi-A Dunedin and has been known for his plus power and speed since being signed out of Venezuela in 2014.

Carkuff, a 24-year-old reliever, was Toronto’s 35th-round pick in 2016 out of Austin Peay State. He posted a 3.86 ERA in 63 innings across four levels in the Jays’ system, spending the bulk of his time at Single-A Lansing.

For a complete look at every trade so far this winter, check out our trade tracker.