The Blue Jays’ deadline shuffle produced one of the strangest near-misses of the summer: José Soriano could have been on the move again almost as soon as Toronto landed him.
Soriano arrived from the Los Angeles Angels as part of a deal that signaled Toronto wasn’t simply giving up on the season, even though the club was expected to sell. Instead, the Jays worked a hybrid deadline, trimming and adding at the same time. But the most surprising twist came after the deal was done - Toronto reportedly still entertained the idea of flipping Soriano to the Minnesota Twins.
According to Mitch Bannon and Dan Hayes of The Athletic, the Twins and the Chicago Cubs both checked in with Toronto about Soriano in hopes of strengthening their rotations. One source told Bannon and Hayes that the Jays “weren’t actively shopping Soriano after acquiring him”, but they were still open to listening.
That opened the door to a possible Soriano-centered package with Minnesota, especially because the Twins were already in talks with Toronto about reliever Jeff Hoffman. The idea was a bigger swap, one that could have sent a significant haul back to the Blue Jays.
One source said that haul would have included Minnesota’s No. 3 prospect, infielder Kaelen Culpepper. Toronto, though, pushed for another premium piece: top pitching prospect Riley Quick.
The Twins apparently weren’t willing to include him, and the talks fizzled. Hoffman ended up being the only Blue Jays player to head to Minnesota.
It’s the kind of deadline wrinkle that can look very different depending on how the player performs afterward, and Soriano wasted no time making Toronto’s choice look understandable.
After a solid Blue Jays debut on August 7, when he allowed one earned run over four innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, the 27-year-old right-hander turned in an even better outing Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox. Soriano worked six innings, gave up four hits, walked two and struck out four. His only damage came on a Willson Contreras home run in the fifth.
Jose Soriano induced 18 swings & misses in his #BlueJays50 debut.
His 31.6 Whiff% this season ranks 2nd in the AL, trailing only Dylan Cease.
- Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) August 12, 2026
For now, Soriano looks like exactly the kind of arm the Blue Jays hoped they were getting: a front-of-the-rotation piece with real value now and down the road. And in a deadline story already packed with twists, he may wind up as one of those rare acquisitions Toronto is happy it made - and happy it didn’t immediately undo.
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