Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays Discussed Jose Soriano Trade

[Matthew Lenz]

Before the trade deadline struck midnight, rumors were swirling that the Toronto Blue Jays were open to trading the newly acquired Jose Soriano. It was news that surprised many, considering they had acquired him on August 3rd for top prospect Arjun Nimmala.

Now, a week after the deadline passed, we're getting more details on what those talks entailed. Dan Hayes and Mitch Bannon of The Athletic are reporting that the Chicago Cubs "pursued" Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Jose Soriano. It's not clear who the Cubs would have included in the swap, but it's fair to assume the headliner would have been a top organizational prospect.

Soriano, 27, was one of the top starting arms on the market over the trade deadline. This was despite a high walk rate and a FIP about half a run higher than his 3.24 ERA. He was particularly attractive as a starter who is controllable through 2028.

Do you think the Cubs should have met the asking price for Soriano? Join the conversation in the comments!

 

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[Jason Ross]

The Athletic doesn't really mention anything about who the Cubs discussed, but if I had a guess, the Cubs were hoping that the Blue Jays, fresh off dealing Nimaala to the Angels, preferred Rojas to Nimaala and could scoop up Soriano. Doesn't sound like it went too far, but based on how the day went, that feels like a reasonable guess.

[Bertz]

I expect this was just Jed being in on every SP with a pulse rather than anything that had legs, but FWIW this is more or less how the Kyle Tucker trade started.

[Stratos]

After the TDL passed Jed said he tried to get a controllable SP but never got anywhere close on any of those deals.

[Rcal10]

7 hours ago, Stratos said:

After the TDL passed Jed said he tried to get a controllable SP but never got anywhere close on any of those deals.

In a way, he did get a controllable starting pitcher with Garrett. He replaced Detmers by making two deals. He got Holmes for now and Garrett for the next 2 years. He also got Taylor in those deals. Maybe, before Adell was traded, he tried that group of prospects for Detmers and Adell.🤷

[Backtobanks]

Soriano would have been a great pickup.  Solid starter making $3 million this year and two more years of control.

[Stratos]

11 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

In a way, he did get a controllable starting pitcher with Garrett. He replaced Detmers by making two deals. He got Holmes for now and Garrett for the next 2 years. He also got Taylor in those deals. Maybe, before Adell was traded, he tried that group of prospects for Detmers and Adell.🤷

If they never got close on Soriano or Detmers that tells me they just didn't match up on a deal.  The Angels probably just didn't like our prospects as much as the Cubs do so the ask was too high for Jed.  It took Ballesteros to get a good reliever from them.  Getting Detmers or Soriano would have obviously been much higher.

We don't even have any premier prospects, they might have wanted Shaw or Ramirez, maybe Brown etc.  If we're in win-now mode we need all those guys this year.  Plus they may not have liked Shaw's current injury situation.

Anyways, I'm confident Jed got the best deals he could.  He's a good POBO.

Edited August 12 by Stratos

[Backtobanks]

11 hours ago, Stratos said:

If they never got close on Soriano or Detmers that tells me they just didn't match up on a deal.  The Angels probably just didn't like our prospects as much as the Cubs do so the ask was too high for Jed.  It took Ballesteros to get a good reliever from them.  Getting Detmers or Soriano would have obviously been much higher.

We don't even have any premier prospects, they might have wanted Shaw or Ramirez, maybe Brown etc.  If we're in win-now mode we need all those guys this year.  Plus they may not have liked Shaw's current injury situation.

Anyways, I'm confident Jed got the best deals he could.  He's a good POBO.

Obviously, the Angels wanted Nimmala (20 yr. old SS @ AA #42 prospect), but the other two (Micheletti - 24 yr. old CO @AA and Rivero - 19 yr. old P @ Rookie ball) weren't anything outstanding.  Rojas + Wiggins + Kepley sounds pretty close.  

[BKHoo]

What do people think about Garrett and the next two years? 
 

And from what the manager said, Shaw may be a long way from coming back.