The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline.
Trade details: The Toronto Blue Jays acquire RHP José Soriano from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for SS Arjun Nimmala, OF Eddie Micheletti Jr. and RHP Angel Rivero
In trading Soriano for three prospects — including Blue Jays’ No. 2 prospect Nimmala — the Angels might finally be making the kind of bigger trades they’ve needed to make for years. Toronto gets a mid-rotation starter to slot in behind Dylan Cease for the next two years, while the Angels get their new No. 1 prospect.
Soriano started the year on fire, giving up just one run in his first 37 2/3 innings over six starts. Since then, he’s been more mortal with a 4.64 ERA, and there have been too many walks and homers to be more than a mid-rotation guy. He’s a true four-pitch pitcher, mixing a sinker, four-seamer, knuckle-curve and splitter with pretty similar frequency. The splitter is his least-used of those four by a small margin, perhaps why lefties have tagged him for 10 of the 12 homers he’s allowed this year, although it’s a plus pitch that lefties have whiffed on 39 percent of the time they’ve swung at it this year, so maybe throw that one more?
As is, he’s a No. 3 starter who’s been pretty durable and replaces the innings that Kevin Gausman was providing, with the potential to be the Blue Jays’ second-best starter after Cease, especially if Soriano changes how he’s using his existing arsenal.
Nimmala was a 17-year-old high schooler in Tampa when he became the Jays’ first-round pick in 2023. He’s battled injuries to reach Double A this year, hitting .279/.355/.451 in 33 games so far at age 20. He’s a true shortstop with power, and he has a hard-hit rate this year well over 50 percent. He can hammer fastballs. He covers the inner half of the plate extremely well but has been vulnerable away, especially on sliders moving away from him.
Nimmala is younger than just about all of the college players drafted this July and will be ready for Triple A to start next year. I think he’s going to be an above-average regular with 20-plus homers a year and at least 55 defense, with the potential to be a star if he can adjust better to breaking stuff away.
Micheletti was a senior signee in the eighth round in 2024 out of Virginia Tech. He has offensive ability and is better than an org player, with a .251/.347/.454 line in Double A this year. He’s a corner outfielder and not great defensively, probably best suited to limited duty in the outfield, with bench player/pinch hitter his most likely role.
Rivero is a somewhat undersized 19-year-old right-hander who was in the Florida Complex League this year. He has plus velocity and projectable breaking stuff, while the delivery has a lot of effort, and his command and control are below average.
Both Micheletti and Rivero are worth having in the system, but the real return is Nimmala, who should be the Angels’ long-term answer at shortstop beginning in the second half of next year.
