Angels Reportedly Trade José Soriano To Blue Jays

The Angels are trading starting pitcher José Soriano to the Blue Jays, per ESPN. In return, Toronto is sending shortstop prospect Arjun Nimmela, 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 slots into a rotation that includes major offseason signing Dylan Cease, 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.