Blue Jays Add José Soriano In Trade With Angels
The Blue Jays are acquiring starting pitcher José Soriano from the Angels, per ESPN. In return, Toronto is sending shortstop prospect Arjun Nimmala, minor-league outfielder Eddie Micheletti and teenage right-hander Angel Rivero to Los Angeles.
The move comes on the heels of the Blue Jays trading another starting pitcher, Kevin Gausman, to the Cubs. While Gausman was in the final season of a five-year, $110 million contract, Soriano is under team control through 2028 and is being paid just $2.9 million this summer.
Soriano is also in the midst of a career-best campaign: his 3.29 ERA would be a personal best in the majors, and while he leads the American League in walks allowed, the 6-foot-3 right-hander has managed to keep the ball in the park with regularity once again while limiting hits and missing bats. Soriano's 0.6 home runs per nine in 2025 led the AL, and in 2026, he's at 0.9, while giving up 7.1 hits per nine innings.
Soriano's 2026 is a career-best so far, and that gained the attention of the Blue Jays in a disappointing followup to their 2025 World Series run. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)Soriano's 2026 is a career-best so far, and that gained the attention of the Blue Jays in a disappointing followup to their 2025 World Series run. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Soriano slots into a rotation that includes major offseason signing Dylan Cease and rookie Trey Yesavage, but will lose last year's major deadline acquisition, Shane Bieber, to free agency, in addition to the departure of Gausman. Even looking into just the 2026 season, Toronto was set to rely on 42-year-old Max Scherzer and the struggling Jameson Taillon as rotation pieces over these last two months – Soriano is in position to help the Blue Jays now as well as later.
Micheletti is 24 and in Double-A, batting .251/.347/.454 for New Hampshire. Rivero is a 19-year-old Venezuelan pitching prospect who has spent some time in the rotation and bullpen in the Rookie League in ‘26, missing bats and missing the strike zone a little too regularly. Arjun Nimmala is the prize, as a 20-year-old shortstop who was ranked a top-100 prospect by Baseball America, MLB’s prospect team and Baseball Prospectus entering the season. He has played at four levels in 2026, including Double-A, where he's more than acquitting himself to the tune of .279/.355/.451.