Angels should embrace the Jose Soriano reality everyone saw coming

Jose Soriano put together a mind-blowing start to the 2026 season. His 0.24 ERA over his first six starts was so historic that it was the lowest ERA over a pitcher's first 30 innings since 1913, when earned runs first became a stat. It blew Los Angeles Angels fans' minds and took the MLB world by storm.

Since then, Soriano has made eight starts and logged 44 1/3 innings with a 5.28 ERA. The inconsistency that's plagued him for his entire career has returned. He's thrown some gems, such as his May 10 start against the Toronto Blue Jays when he hurled 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Then he's also had some real clunkers, like on May 4, when he gave up five runs over four innings to the Chicago White Sox. Much of his performance has been somewhere in between.

This isn't to say that Soriano is a bad pitcher. Not by any means, he's just not the dominant ace he seemed like over his face-melting run. He's got an electric arsenal with high-octane velocity, a dominant splitter and knuckle curve that have led to an increase in strikeouts, a stellar ground ball rate, but unfortunately, a propensity to walk too many batters.

In plain terms, that makes him an above-average mid-rotation arm. That has value, but as MLB.com points out, his hot start plus team control through 2028 should generate a treasure chest of a return should the Angels decide to trade him at the deadline.

The Angels could receive a ransom by trading Jose Soriano, and they should pull the trigger on a deal, given their timeline

As of June 11, the Angels' 27-42 record is the worst in the American League and just one game behind the Colorado Rockies for the worst mark in the majors. The team is going nowhere and will continue to do so without a drastic change.

Logan O'Hoppe has gone off the rails. Zach Neto's development has stagnated. Jo Adell is proving that last season's 37-homer campaign was a mirage. Basically, the Halos' young core, of which Soriano is a part, hasn't taken off as they hoped.

Now, most of those guys are either in arbitration or are about to enter arbitration next season. Meanwhile, Walbert Urena is flashing potential that he could be a future building block for the next wave. Los Angeles recently promoted Denzer Guzman, who could be a part of that future core as well. Christian Moore is tearing it up at Salt Lake and should be in Anaheim soon as well.

The timelines with the current generation of young talent and the next crop don't align because the Angels haven't gotten enough of the players they were hoping would bring them out of the dark ages.

So it makes sense to pack it in and start planning for the future. That starts with Soriano, because of his skillset and the value he holds on the trade market, but also because his start captivated the world. The Angels don't always (read: never) make the right decision in these cases, but if they're going to turn over a new leaf, now is as good a time as any.

Waving the white flag now to build a brighter tomorrow makes too much sense not to go through with. But these are Arte Moreno's Angels, so there are no guarantees.

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