The Arizona Diamondbacks came into this offseason with a clear need: starting pitching. With Zac Gallen hitting free agency and Merrill Kelly traded at the Deadline, the rotation had some serious holes.
Add in the fact that Corbin Burnes is sidelined until at least the All-Star break following Tommy John surgery, and it’s easy to see why Arizona moved quickly to bolster their staff. Enter Mike Soroka.
The D-backs signed Soroka to a one-year deal with a mutual option, locking in a veteran arm who not only brings upside but also some local ties. Soroka, a Phoenix-area resident, now gets to stay home year-round - a perk that clearly factored into the decision.
“It’s kind of a dream scenario,” Soroka said. “Everybody kind of wants to be able to live in their house all year, and be able to compete with this organization.”
But geography wasn’t the only selling point. Soroka’s also relieved to no longer have to face Arizona’s lineup - a group that’s given him trouble in recent years.
“They’ve had a really good team put together and [are] a really tough team to play against. So, for me, that’s one more lineup that I don’t have to worry about.”
The deal is worth $7.5 million with incentives that could push it to $9.5 million, per sources. And for the D-backs, it's a calculated bet on a pitcher who, when healthy, has shown he can be elite.
Back in 2019, Soroka burst onto the scene with the Braves, posting a 2.68 ERA across 29 starts at just 21 years old. He earned an All-Star nod, finished sixth in NL Cy Young voting, and came in second for NL Rookie of the Year. But then came the injuries - a torn Achilles in 2020, followed by a re-tear that cost him all of 2021 and 2022.
Fast forward to 2025, and Soroka finally put together a healthy campaign, logging 89 2/3 innings across 17 starts - his heaviest workload since that breakout rookie year. Splitting time between the Nationals and Cubs, he posted a 4.52 ERA, but the underlying numbers told a more encouraging story.
His expected ERA sat at 3.43, and opponents managed just a .210 expected batting average. In short, the stuff was better than the surface stats.
That improvement wasn’t by accident. Soroka added three new pitches to his arsenal in 2025 - a cutter, a sweeper, and a gyro-slider - and credited the Cubs for helping him refine his delivery and unlock those new weapons.
“There were some things I did last year that honestly I did a lot better than when I was an All-Star in 2019,” Soroka said. “There was definitely a couple years where it was just really difficult to find everything and kind of find a rhythm, if you will. And I think last year I fell into it at times, to where it was like, ‘Wow, this is what I felt like mentally and competitively, when everything was clicking.’”
That version of Soroka - the one who rediscovered his rhythm and added new dimensions to his game - is exactly what the Diamondbacks are hoping to see in 2026. With a rotation that now includes Kelly, Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Soroka, Arizona has quietly rebuilt a group that can compete.
If Soroka continues trending upward, this move could look like one of the offseason’s smartest. For now, it’s a win-win: the D-backs get a proven arm with upside, and Soroka gets a fresh start in a familiar place - with no need to pack a suitcase.