The Minnesota Twins are acquiring All-Star closer Jorge López, from the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore will receive minor league pitchers Cade Povich, Yennier Canó, Juan Nunez and Juan Rojas from Minnesota. Cano is the only one with major league experience. With 17 walks, 54 strikeouts and a .174 opponent batting average, Lopez has had quite the turnaround after taking his 6.04 ERA into the season.
#MNTwins acquire Jorge López from the Orioles. pic.twitter.com/rY5qnSDL13
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 2, 2022
Lopez has been a great turnaround story. He was a waiver claim at risk of losing his spot to a first-time All-Star. Furthermore, his 19 saves are tied for the fifth best. In addition, the 29-year-old has career highs with a 1.68 ERA, 0.972 WHIP, and 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings. The Milwaukee Brewers originally drafted the right-hander in the second round of the 2011 MLB Draft. In 2018, Lopez was dealt to the Kansas City Royals with Brett Phillips for Mike Moustakas. The Royals would place him on waivers during the 2020 season, where the Orioles picked him up. Lopez will be under control by the Twins through 2024.
According to MLB.com, Povich is the No. 22 prospect in the Twins farm system. He will be under team control through 2024. The third-round pick in last year’s draft is 6-8, with a 4.46 ERA in 16 starts at High-A Cedar Rapids this season. He will now head to High-A Aberdeen.
Rojas, meanwhile, comes from Maracaibo, Venezuela. Altogether, he is 1-2 with a 3.60 ERA while showing great rate stats: 32.4% strikeout and 3.4% walk. Cano, a 28-year-old right-hander, made his major league debut in May with 10 appearances in 2022. Cano went to Triple-A St.Paul on Monday with a 9.22 ERA for the Twins. He will report to Triple-A Norfolk. He also represented the Cuban National Team in the 2015 and 2016 Caribbean Series.
The trade between the Orioles and Twins came when the Orioles had just dealt Trey Mancini to the Houston Astros. Sitting in the dogfight of the AL East, the Orioles are on the outside looking in at a potential wild card bid. For the Twins, acquiring Lopez comes at a time when they struggle to hold on to first place in the AL Central.
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Players Mentioned:
Jorge López, Cade Povich, Yennier Canó, Juan Nunez, Juan Rojas, Brett Phillips, Mike Moustakas, Trey Mancini
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