Elliot Soto (born August 21, 1989) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

in the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area ...

organization. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. After spending 10 seasons in the minors, Soto made his major league debut on September 25, 2020.

Amateur career

A native of

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-larg ...

, Soto attended Dundee-Crown High School. He was selected by the

in the 13th round of the

2007 MLB Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the fir ...

, but chose to attend

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and underg ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the Creighton Bluejays. In 2009, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operate ...

with the Hyannis Mets of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thous ...

. He was selected by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

in the 15th round of the 2010 MLB Draft.

Career

Chicago Cubs

Soto spent his first year in the minors primarily with the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

Boise Hawks, but had briefs stints in

Rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

and Class A ball for the Cubs. In 52 games that year, he hit .272. In 2011, Soto appeared in 112 games combined between Class A Peoria and Class-A Advanced Daytona, hitting .271. In 2012, Soto was promoted to Double-A where he spent the majority of the season with the Tennessee Smokies, hitting .220/.310/.282 in 82 games. In 2013, Soto split time between Tennessee and Daytona hitting .219 with 2 home runs in 84 games. Soto got promoted to Triple-A

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

in 2014, and .241 in a 29-game stint with the Cubs.

Miami Marlins

On July 31, 2015, Soto was traded to the Miami Marlins along with RHP Ivan Pineyro for RHP Dan Haren. He spent the entire 2015 season at the Double-A level, hitting .256/.366/.292 in 120 games. Soto spent his entire 2016 season with the New Orleans Zephyrs, hitting .241 in 62 games.

Second Cubs stint

Soto elected free agency following the 2016 season and signed back with the Chicago Cubs on a minor league deal. For the 2017 season, Soto played all his 81 games with Triple-A Iowa, and hit .238 with 2 home runs.

Colorado Rockies

That offseason, Soto briefly signed with

Acereros del Norte The Acereros de Monclova (English: Monclova Steelers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico. Their home ballpark is Estadio de Béisbol Monclova, which has a capacity of 11,000 people. The ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

before signing with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

. He played the 2018 season in Triple-A

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

, hitting .286/.347/.382 over 81 games. He returned to the Isotopes in 2019, where he had his best offensive season of his minor league career, which saw Soto hit .305 with an .860 OPS and a career high 10 home runs in 112 games.

Los Angeles Angels

Soto elected free agency following the 2019 season and signed a minor league deal with an invite to spring training with the

. On September 22, 2020, the Angels selected his contract following

Andrelton Simmons Andrelton A. Simmons (born September 4, 1989) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, and Chicago Cubs. D ...

’s decision to opt out of the rest of the shortened 2020 season. He made his debut on September 25, appearing as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been subs ...

in a 9-5 Angels loss. The next day, he made his first career start, and after teammate

Jahmai Jones This list contains tribes or other groups of people named in the Bible of minor notability, about whom either nothing or very little is known, aside from any family connections. A Accaba, descendants of For the descendants of "Accaba" (1 Esd ...

notched his first career hit, Soto went back-to-back with a single in his first at bat, becoming the first pair in Angels history to record back-to-back first career hits. On October 30, 2020, Soto was outrighted off of the 40-man roster. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On December 18, 2020, Elliot Soto signed a minor-league deal with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

with an invite to Spring Training. He spent the entire season in Triple-A with the

Oklahoma City Dodgers The Oklahoma City Dodgers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their hom ...

, where he hit .230 in 54 games. Soto became a free agent following the season.

Minnesota Twins

On February 21, 2022, Soto signed a minor league contract with the

. He had his contract selected on June 13, 2022 and was designated for assignment the next day without appearing in a game. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Triple-A St. Paul Saints on June 16. On November 23, 2022, the Twins re-signed Soto to a minor league deal.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soto, Elliot 1989 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players Arizona League Cubs players Baseball players from Illinois Boise Hawks players Creighton Bluejays baseball players Daytona Cubs players Estrellas Orientales players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Iowa Cubs players Jacksonville Suns players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball infielders Mesa Solar Sox players New Orleans Zephyrs players Peoria Chiefs players Sportspeople from Elgin, Illinois Tennessee Smokies players United States national baseball team players 2015 WBSC Premier12 players Oklahoma City Dodgers players Arizona Complex League Dodgers players