#94 – Emison Soto
Atlantic City (1999, 2001, ’03)
Catcher/Corner-Infield
We’re throwing it back to the turn of the century for our #94 player in our Top 100! Emison Soto played some odd seasons (literally…in 1999, 2001, and 2003) for the Atlantic City Surf and did great work at the plate and behind it. Soto’s numbers are good on the surface: 242 games, .301/.365/.543 slash, 48 HRs (1 per 17.7 AB), 132 OPS+, and 8.8 WAR. However, Emison’s production saw a massive decline in 2003 (.238/.283./.409). That decline isn’t nearly enough to remove him from the Top 100, considering that it’s not unusual for ballplayers to suffer some late-career struggles and it took place over only 46 games. In fact, removing that season for a moment emphasizes just how valuable Soto was over his first 195 games. Emison totaled a .316/.384/.575 slash, 42 HRs (1 per 16.4 AB), a 143 OPS+, and 8.5 WAR in those 3 seasons, with that home run total landing him at 6th in the league both years.
Those early Atlantic League years don’t have the cleanest records for game and stat-tracking purposes, so it’s unsurprising that we can’t track down too many specifics from Emison Soto’s career. Even without abundant details, we know that Soto’s 3 Atlantic League seasons were terrific. A 132 OPS+ is nothing to be ignored and a 143 OPS+ over 2 seasons as a catcher places him in the top 7% of offensive catchers in Atlantic League history. At #94, Soto is the first player repping the purple and aqua of the Atlantic City Surf, but he will certainly not be the last member of the Top 100 from the Surf’s 9-season Atlantic League run.
ALPB Roundup All-Time Top 100 Atlantic League Players
100. Jonathan Galvez
99. Matt Craig
98. Sean Halton
97. Ryan Langerhans
96. Javier Colina
95. David Vidal
94. Emison Soto
Indy Ball Nation 