The Angels wasted little time in making the first significant move of the offseason, acquiring slugger Jorge Soler from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for pitcher Griffin Canning on Thursday, just one day after the World Series ended.

“Obviously, it’s a move we felt like we needed to make sooner than later,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said.

The Angels are coming off a 63-99 season, setting a franchise record for losses, and Minasian began the winter by addressing one of the team’s many weaknesses: a lack of power.

Soler, 32, hit .241 with 21 homers and a .780 OPS last season, splitting between the San Francisco Giants and Braves.

“From a bat speed standpoint, from an exit velocity standpoint, he definitely impacts the baseball,” Minasian said. “We were 28th in (slugging percentage). That was an area where we felt like we need to improve.”

The Angels were 27th in the majors in OPS out of the designated hitter spot, so obviously Soler could help boost that number.

However, Minasian said they believe Soler can also play the outfield. The Angels do not want to have the DH spot filled by one player every day, limiting their opportunity to give players like Mike Trout or Anthony Rendon time at DH.

Angels third base-coach and outfield coach Eric Young Sr. worked with Soler in Atlanta in 2021, and that’s one of the reasons Minasian believes Soler can be capable in the outfield. Soler was exclusively a DH with the Giants for four months last season, but he then played exclusively in the outfield with the Braves over the final two months.

“If we need him to play the outfield, he can,” Minasian said. “Ideally, in a perfect world, he does see some time at DH. Eric Young was obviously familiar with him in Atlanta, and worked with him in the outfield, his first go around in Atlanta (in 2021). So we do have staff that’s familiar with him and knows the player really well.”

More important, the Angels are hoping Soler can be the offensive player he was with the Braves, or the previous year with the Miami Marlins.

Soler was an All-Star in 2023 with the Marlins, hitting 36 homers with an .853 OPS. After the Giants signed him to a three-year, $42 million deal, he hit 12 homers with a .749 OPS in four months with the Giants.

After going to Atlanta in a deal just before the trade deadline, Soler finished by hitting nine homers with an .849 OPS in his final 49 games.

“The first half of the season, I had little things I had to work on with timing, my swing,” Soler said through an interpreter. “When it came to the second half, I felt a whole lot better. Obviously it showed. I went back to being where I’m known to be at.”

By adding Soler, the Angels also gave the first indication that they will add to the payroll, as owner Arte Moreno suggested in an interview earlier this month.

Soler will make $13 million each of the next two seasons. (His original contract included a $9 million signing bonus.)

Canning would have made about $5 million in his final season of arbitration. The right-hander was set to be eligible for free agency after next season.

Canning, 28, had a 5.19 ERA in a career-high 171 2/3 innings, including 31 starts and one outing behind an opener.

“It’s someone who took the ball every single time last year,” Minasian said. “In a year where we had a ton of injuries, he was one of the reliable guys that was right there, ready to go. Even when he was struggling, and he had his struggles, he did take the ball and give everything he had. He’s someone that was drafted here, developed here, somebody that’s been here a long time, that’s made a lot of relationships. It’s always tough to move that type of person, especially a person like Griff. But with that being said, you have to give to get and we felt like it was the right move to make.”

The Angels now have another hole to fill in their rotation. Currently, they have a list that includes left-handers Tyler Anderson and Reid Detmers, and right-handers José Soriano and Jack Kochanowicz. Other starters who will have a chance to compete for jobs include right-handers Chase Silseth and Caden Dana and left-handers Sam Aldegheri and José Suarez.

“We’re definitely going to look at the free-agent market from a rotation standpoint or look at the trade market from a rotation standpoint,” Minasian said. “That’s an area we can improve. We do like some of our internal options. I believe we’re in a better spot since I’ve been here, just with the depth we have and the young talent that’s been added over the last couple years.”