Carlos Soto

Carlos Soto Mota

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 200 lb.
• Born November 3, 1952 in San Pedro, Coahuila Mexico

Carlos Soto began his professional baseball career with the 1972 Ebano Reds, hitting .223/~.291/.287 in 32 games. He improved with Ebano in 1973; at age 20 he batted .319/~.395/.498, tied for the Mexican Center League lead with 58 RBI and made the MCL All-Star team at catcher. Called up to the parent Mexico City Red Devils late that year, Soto hit .185/~.185/.259 om 10 games.

Carlos was signed by the Cleveland Indians and assigned to the GCL Indians in 1974 but only played 12 games there, hitting .294/~.333/.324. Back in Mexico the next year, Carlos would spend the remainder of his career in the Mexican League. He hit .241/~.305/.302 as a sub for Mexico City in 1975 and .169/~.231/.268 the next year for the Nuevo Laredo Owls.

Soto emerged as a significant contributor with Nuevo Laredo in 1977. The top slugger on the team, he was in the top 10 in the Liga in both homers (19) and RBI (87) and hit .317/~.363/.477. He hit .284/~.367/.503 for the 1978 Owls and tied for sixth in the League with 19 home runs. His power declined but his contact hitting improved in 1979 with a .313/~.370/.453 season in which he homered 14 times. During the 1980 season, he played some time with the Saltillo Saraperos and hit .318/~.374/.423 with 7 homers, the only time he would fall below double digits between 1977 and 1991.

At age 28, Carlos batted .311/~.378/.440 for Nuevo Laredo, then hit .285/~.340/.456 in 1982; his 19 homers were the fourth-best total in the Liga. He finally topped 20 homers after several close calls with the 1983 campaign, when he belted 22 out and hit .299/~.356/.542. Soto was fourth in the Liga in RBI that year with 75 and captured his only home run title in the regular season. It was the lowest league-leading total since 1954; Ivan Murrell was the only other player with 20 long balls that season.

In 1984 Soto hit .324/~.366/.496 for the Owls - with the offensive explosion resulting from the introduction of the Comando ball, his 16 homers were not even in the top 30 in the Liga. Carlos posted his best raw numbers in 1985 with a .348/~.435/.581 line and in 1986 with a .336/~.435/.640 season at the plate. His walk totals, always below 40 in the past, topped 55 both years. By this point in time, Carlos had moved from being primarily a catcher to a C-1B and now a DH-1B. In 1985-1986 Soto led the Mexican Pacific League with 17 home runs. He hit a career-high 29 homers in the regular Liga in 1986 and matched the figure in 1987, when he batted .278/~.359/.533 with a career-best 94 RBI. He was 8th in the Liga in HR, but only third on his team behind Andres Mora and Alejandro Ortiz.

Soto's 11-year span with Nuevo Laredo ended in 1988; the 35-year-old hitter split time between the Campeche Pirates and Monclova Steelers, hitting only .246/~.336/.452 with 21 HR; it was his fifth and final 20-homer season. He bounced back a bit in 1989 with the Monterrey Industrials, hitting .302/~.383/.493, then finished his career with the San Luis Potosi Cactus Pear Growers. In 1990 he hit .282/~.355/.451 for San Luis Potosi and the last year of his career he batted .322/~.389/.523 at age 38.

Overall, in his Mexican League career, Carlos Soto hit .301/~.369/.487 with 264 homers and 1,043 RBI. A player lacking speed (29 for 65 in steal attempts) and who rarely walked, he showed good contact hitting and very good power. Entering 2001, he was 15th all-time in the Liga in RBI and ninth in homers, though not among the leaders in any other category. While Soto was rarely the top power hitter in the country, he often was the premier slugger on his teams.

Soto was voted into the Salon de la Fama in the 2007 election. He managed the Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo for part of 2010.

Sources: Viva Beisbol newsletter by Bruce Baskin (6/1/05 issue), The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros, 1973-1975 Baseball Guides

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