What Trading for Jose Soriano Would Cost the Brewers

The move that would make the Milwaukee Brewers’ rotation historic is taking a flyer on Detroit Tigers starter Tarik Skubal. While that would make the most waves of any Brewers trade since the team acquired CC Sabathia in 2008, there’s a reason that was such a significant move: it’s uncharacteristic for this team. 

The more realistic move is that the team bolsters the back end of the rotation. With the hope that Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison are both healthy and able to be the 1-2 punch, José Soriano would be a dynamic third piece in an already strong group of starters. Let’s do some cost analysis on the Angels starter.

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José Soriano, Angels

RHP  Age: 27 FA: Nov 2028 Sal: $2.9m

One of the hardest-throwing starters in the game, Soriano also gets tons of ground balls, because that triple-digit heater (the main one, anyway) is a very heavy sinker. He occasionally shows command of a plus splitter and a plus knuckle-curve, which allows him to strike out hitters at a healthy clip, in addition to the grounders and the sheer power of his profile. That’s the good news. The bad news is, he’s going to walk people, and you can’t be sure how well he’ll hold up to his current workload. He threw 169 innings last season, but that more than doubled his career total, and he’s on pace for over 180 in 2026. He started the season like gangbusters but has struggled of late. The list of guys with a higher ceiling who might be dealt this summer is very short. The list of guys with a better chance of being useful for a pennant contender is longer.

This season, the hard-throwing righty has a 9-6 record with a 3.29 earned run average and 127 punchouts in 123 innings. He’s been a consistent presence in the team’s rotation, already logging 22 starts. 

Soriano touts a five-pitch arsenal, leading with a high-octane sinker. The arm-side riding pitch is just a tick off of his four-seam fastball (96.4 miles per hour compared to 97.2) with more horizontal movement, tunneling well out of a relatively shallow arm angle of 34°. The velocity is great, but the other stuff is even more impressive.

Plenty of pitchers can throw hard, but how they get a hitter to react is the real key. Soriano checks off many of the right boxes, ranking in the 89th percentile for whiff rate (31.4%), 89th percentile for ground ball rate (52.3%) and 68th percentile for strikeout rate (24.9%). Between the sinker, curveball, four-seam fastball and splitter, the Angels’ ace uses all four options at least 19% of the time. His slider, which is his fifth pitch, is arguably the most devastating. Despite the small sample size, the offering has held hitters to a .188 batting average, not allowing an extra-base hit across 19 plate appearances. 

Reportedly, the Angels have prioritized acquiring a young catcher for either Soriano or Reid Detmers. In Jeferson Quero and Marco Dinges, the Brewers have two intriguing upper-level catching prospects whom they could offer as co-headliners in a deal. Soriano would probably cost them another of their top outfield or pitchiong prospects, too, but because he's controllable beyond this year, the electricity he would bring to the rotation would last. This move could position the team to contend more fiercely for a place in this year's World Series, but it would also bolster them during the next two campaigns. For that prize, it's worth paying a handsome price.

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