Angels' Breakout Starting Pitcher Could Be Highly Sought at Deadline: Report

The Major League Baseball trade deadline is roughly seven weeks away and the Los Angeles Angels have a lot to think about. The standings dictate they will be sellers, but who should stay and who should go?

Could they deal the hard-throwing right-hander Jose Soriano? Here is what ESPN's Jeff Passan thinks about that:

"The hard thing would be to deal someone like right-hander Jose Soriano, whose 100-mph fastball has helped his seamless move to the rotation. Soriano is the sort of arm around whom teams like to build, but the Angels will be in such dire shape in the coming years that cashing in on Soriano's success would be the move a front office confident in itself — and, more pertinent to the Angels, in its owner's willingness to learn what constitutes a good baseball decision — would make."

Soriano's stuff was on display against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. He delivered a solid six-inning performance, allowing just two runs on six hits.

“The plan was to make less pitches,” Soriano told reporters. “It feels great because I had a lot of ground balls to the infield with contact and my infield did the job.”

Soriano hasn't been a starter until this season. Learning to use the same arsenal that benefitted him as a reliever against the same hitter multiple times through a game has been a challenge at times. That's why his most recent start against the Padres was a significant step in his development as a starter.

Overall, Soriano is 3-5 with a 3.64 ERA.