Blue Jays reportedly considered flipping José Soriano in unexpected Twins proposal

When the Toronto Blue Jays dealt for an elite pitcher, landing José Soriano from the Los Angeles Angels at the trade deadline, it was a surprise to many. That was because the Blue Jays were supposed to be sellers at the deadline. But instead, Toronto took the hybrid approach to sell off assets while acquiring others to prepare for the future of the franchise.

But as surprising as the acquisition was, it was even more shocking that the Blue Jays actually considered trading Soriano to the Minnesota Twins also at the deadline, after just acquiring him. According to Mitch Bannon and Dan Hayes of The Athletic, the Twins and the Chicago Cubs reached out to Toronto in the hopes of acquiring Soriano to bolster their respective rotations. As a source pointed out to Bannon and Hayes, although the Jays “weren’t actively shopping Soriano after acquiring him”, they actually did still consider offers.

Should the Blue Jays have considered a blockbuster trade with the Twins with José Soriano as the centerpiece?

The Twins were also actively talking with the Blue Jays with regards to the acquisition of reliever Jeff Hoffman at the time. That generated the potential of Toronto formulating a Soriano-Hoffman blockbuster trade package to land a huge haul from Minnesota.

Among that potential haul would have included the Twins’ No. 3 prospect in infielder Kaelen Culpepper, according to another source. But the Blue Jays wanted Minnesota to include top pitching prospect Riley Quick as another vital piece in the deal, which apparently the Twins didn’t want to part with, so things didn’t work out in the end. As a result, Hoffman became the only piece that went the Twins way from the Blue Jays when all was said and done.

That potential blockbuster move certainly would have been intriguing to say the least. But after the strong showing from Soriano in his second start for the Jays, it might have been wise for Toronto to hold onto their newly-acquired asset.

Coming off a solid debut with the Blue Jays on August 7 in which he held the Philadelphia Phillies to one earned run over four innings of work, the 27-year-old right-hander pitched a dandy against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday (Aug. 12). Soriano went six strong innings, holding the Red Sox to just four hits with two walks and four strikeouts with his only blemish a Willson Contreras home run in the fifth inning.

The electric righty appears to be a valuable front end of the rotation piece for the Blue Jays for now and the future. As a result, Soriano could end up falling into a unique category of being one of those trades that Toronto is glad that they made (with the Angels) and also didn’t make (with the Twins) at the same time.

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