Saúl Soto

Saúl Soto

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 245 lb.

• Born August 11, 1978 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa Mexico

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Saúl Soto has played over a decade in the minor leagues.

Soto debuted in 1997 with the DSL Dodgers, hitting .282 with 3 homers and 21 RBI. In 1998, he batted .255/.308/.293 for the Reynosa Broncos, playing 86 games as a young backstop. He moved to the Mexico City Red Devils in 1999 and batted .313/.330/.425 in a backup role.

Soto split 2000 between Mexico City (.360/.439/.440 in 19 G) and the Yakima Bears (.255/.350/.411 in 55 G). His six home runs were second-best on Yakima, which won the Northwest League title. The catcher spent 2001 with four teams but only saw significant action with one - Mexico City (.250, 0 RBI), the Vero Beach Dodgers (0 for 2, 2 BB), the Jacksonville Suns (1 for 3, 3 R) and the Wilmington Waves (.262/.366/.401 in 75 G). He played 49 games at first base for Wilmington, leading the team at that position, as South Atlantic League All-Star Koyie Hill was handling the catching.

By 2002, Soto was back in Mexico full-time, hitting .286 with 15 home runs for the Oaxaca Warriors. In '03, he batted .290 with 13 long balls for Oaxaca and Mexico City. Saúl hit .299/.355/.463 for Mexico City in 2004. In 2005, he hit .292/.383/.474 for the Red Devils.

During the 2006 campaign, Soto's batting line for Mexico City read .329/.383/.543 and he went deep 17 times. In the 2006 COPABE Olympic Qualifiers, he backed up Noe Munoz at catcher and went 3 for 15 with a walk, double and a home run.

In 2007, Saúl hit .319/.388/.613 for Mexico City with 32 doubles and 25 home runs. He was 7th in the Mexican League in slugging and tied Ruben Rivera and Roberto Saucedo for 5th in home runs. During 2008, Soto moved to the Monclova Steelers and produced at a .283/.359/.440 rate with 11 home runs in an off-year.

Soto was with the Mazatlan Deer for the 2009 Caribbean Series, in which he was 2 for 4 with 3 walks and a run as their top performer. In the 2009 regular season, Saúl had a big year for Monclova, hitting .370/.454/.641 with 28 home runs and 93 RBI in 104 games. He was third in the league in batting average behind Dionys Cesar and Edgar Quintero, tied Quintero for 8th in OBP, was third in slugging behind Ruben Rivera and Jacob Cruz, was second to Rivera in home runs and was second to Saucedo in RBI. He then joined Mexico for the 2009 Baseball World Cup.

Sources

• Defunct IBAF site
• MILB.com
• Assorted Baseball Almanacs and Baseball Guides
• The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros
• Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database