Jorge Lopez traded to Twins for pitching prospects (edit)

[Just Regular]

Cade Povich is Kyle Bradish.

For sure this return is some in the realm of pitch data from the complexes and who really knows what is the difference between Max Wagner and Carter Young?    We'll see in a couple years.

Povich's 500k bonus in last year's 3rd round was one of the lowest.

Midwest League might be easy after Nebraska, but he looks to have been one of the league's best pitchers.    Here he is #1 in K-BB% there.

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/minor-league?pos=all&level=0&lg=11&stats=pit&qual=y&type=1&team=&season=2022&seasonEnd=2022&org=&ind=0&splitTeam=false&players=&sort=11,1

I figure his good pitching this season has raised him considerably from wherever he was on offseason lists.   Elias targeting him is probably something I'd weight more than anything Law, Longenhagen, etc. opine.

[brvn52]

Cano looks brutal on the surface, but maybe a bit more intriguing when you dive in. 2018 #2 international prospect according to mlb pipeline (funny enough, behind Victor Victor Mesa). $750k bonus from the Twins. Seems to have decent stuff and a 1.90 ERA in AAA this year. I wonder if Elias thinks he could turn him into another reliable backend piece..

[RZNJ]

From March of 2021.  Baseball America.

TWINS

Yennier Cano, RHP
Top Velocity: 98

Cano signed with the Twins out of Cuba in 2019 and moved up to High-A that season. He is already 27 years old, but showed a fastball that averaged 95 mph and peaked at 98 during instructional league. He performed very well during the fall camp, though the Twins only played intrasquad games and he was facing much younger players. Because of his age, he should start the year at one of Minnesota’s upper-level affiliates.

Povich only ranked #21 in the midseason update in Baseball America.

Midseason Update: A skinny lefty who showed flashes of dominance and plenty of stretches of effectiveness at Nebraska, the Twins 2021 third-round pick has impressed at High-A Cedar Rapids, but the best is likely yet to come. Povich has plenty of projection left because he’s still so skinny. His outings show it as well, as he struggles to maintain the 94-96 mph velocity he begins games with for more than an inning or two. But even when he settles into the low 90s, his four-pich mix gives him enough to pile up strikeouts.

[RVAOsFan]

Vespi has been recalled to backfill Lopez spot in the pen.

[LookinUp]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

Do you think Elias is batting 1000 in the trades he has made?  Do you think he is infallible?  If yes, please explain.

Nope. But it’s a fact, not an opinion, that he has a much better understanding of the 5 players in this deal than any of us.

[RZNJ]

1 minute ago, Sydnor said:

Bautista was in the complex league at 22. Bautista is probably a 1% outcome if that. As I said in another post, I’m not going to try to talk myself into this one because they did not have to trade him unless his Arb 2 salary was not going to fit into next year’s budget.

Check out the Astros starting rotation.   One guy was signed at 21, another at 20.

[drdelaware]

Bautista is the next man up.  Expected that for awhile now.

[lovetoaster]

5 minutes ago, interloper said:

Lopez is 29, has no track record of ML success, and we got 4 pitchers for him. I think it's fine. It's not great. It's fine. 

This. I love Lopez, but his situation is exactly why we should have some faith in the people that are identifying and developing talent. Until just recently, people would not have been saying many positive things about Lopez's track record.  

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, RVAOsFan said:

 

Sounds right to me.  Would be a really good second piece for Lopez.

[Roll Tide]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

Do you think Elias is batting 1000 in the trades he has made?  Do you think he is infallible?  If yes, please explain.

Do you not like this deal? I think Lopez is a confidence player (streaky) and likely to regress. Obviously that’s my opinion. I think Bautista replaces Lopez and hopefully they can improve Cano’s results at the majors.

[Sydnor]

1 minute ago, RZNJ said:

Check out the Astros starting rotation.   One guy was signed at 21, another at 20.

You’re not going to change my mind and I’m not going to change your mind, so I’ll agree to disagree and move on.

Edited August 2, 2022 by Sydnor

[lovetoaster]

1 minute ago, brvn52 said:

Cano looks brutal on the surface, but maybe a bit more intriguing when you dive in. 2018 #2 international prospect according to mlb pipeline (funny enough, behind Victor Victor Mesa). $750k bonus from the Twins. Seems to have decent stuff and a 1.90 ERA in AAA this year. I wonder if Elias thinks he could turn him into another reliable backend piece..

I miss Victor Victor. 

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, clapdiddy said:

Agreed.   What would have been the harm in this?   Lopez still has 2 more years of control left.  

The harm is he falls off and loses value.

It is a risk.

[Sports Guy]

Just now, Roll Tide said:

Do you not like this deal? I think Lopez is a confidence player (streaky) and likely to regress. Obviously that’s my opinion. I think Bautista replaces Lopez and hopefully they can improve Cano’s results at the majors.

No I don’t like it. There is nothing in Lopez’s numbers that suggest major regression.  I think you get more for him in the offseason or next deadline.  I didn’t feel the value was there to trade him and this trade confirms that for me.

[scbalt52]

1 minute ago, clapdiddy said:

Agreed.   What would have been the harm in this?   Lopez still has 2 more years of control left.  

I guess the harm could be if Lopez started to get shelled. Not saying he would've but definitely could've or injured. He's a guy we probably should've cut last year in all honesty and we originally got him because he couldn't stick on the Royals roster. We did a good job revamping him into something. I agree the trade on paper seems underwhelming but we also all basically know nothing.