Blue Jays swing blockbuster trade with Angels for star starting pitcher

The Toronto Blue Jays may have already started selling with the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline almost here, but they have now made a major addition to their roster.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Blue Jays have acquired starting pitcher Jose Soriano from the Los Angeles Angels in a big splash.

Per Passan, the Blue Jays are sending shortstop Arjun Nimmala, outfielder Eddie Micheletti, and pitcher Angel Rivero to Los Angeles for Soriano.

Soriano was one of the league's top trade candidate pitchers heading toward the deadline. He was linked to several teams because of it, but the Blue Jays have now won the sweepstakes with his major trade.

With this move for Soriano, the Blue Jays have essentially found their replacement for the recently traded Kevin Gausman. Soriano will now be an incredibly important part of the Blue Jays' pitching rotation as they look to get things back on track moving forward.

Soriano will also be much more than a rental, which explains why the selling Blue Jays decided to trade for him. This is because the four-year MLB veteran is under team control through the 2028 season. With this, he has the potential to be a long-term part of the Blue Jays' plans.

Soriano has appeared in 22 games this season, where he has a 9-6 record, a 3.29 ERA, and 127 strikeouts. He has also had an ERA under 4.00 in three out of his four major league seasons, so he has the potential to be a very strong addition to the Blue Jays' rotation.

The Blue Jays gave up some promising youngsters to land Soriano

With Soriano being a high-impact pitcher under team control for multiple seasons, it makes sense that the Blue Jays had to give up a pretty significant trade package to land him. That is just how trading works in baseball.

Nimmala was the Blue Jays' top shortstop prospect before this trade and could end up becoming a very good player for the Angels later down the road. In 62 minor league games this season, he has eight home runs, 34 RBI, and a .265 batting average.

Micheletti was another promising Blue Jays prospect who has been showing clear signs of improvement this season. In 93 games with Double-A New Hampshire before this trade, he had 14 home runs, 45 RBI, and a .251 batting average.

As for Rivero, he is a 19-year-old pitcher who is still very much in the early stages of his development. He will need several more years of development before potentially making the jump to the majors, but he has shown promise early on in his minor league career.

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