Jorge Lopez traded to Twins for pitching prospects (edit)

[Sports Guy]

If you were grading the deal, what grade would you give it?

[Roll Tide]

3 hours ago, Hallas said:

Unless we're looking for players to fill out a baseball roster adding prospects in the lower levels doesn't really mean much to me.  It's rare that good prospects stay in the lower levels for long anyway, so I would consider this to be normal.  Besides the issue I have with the trade is we got a 40+ player, maybe fringe 45 at best, plus some lottery tickets, and I thought that Lopez was worth more than that.

Yes … but you still get 3ish for a MLB as they all aren’t going to work out. If any of these guys ends up a #3 starter or better you’ve won by a lot. 
 

I think a stater and a reliever for the big league club is a plus. BTW, you can’t get too many upper level guys as you can’t protect them all from the rule 5

[SilverRocket]

3 hours ago, RZNJ said:

But Cano has had success in the minors thanks to a slinging, low-three-quarters release point, mid-90s fastball velocity and an above-average changeup. Cano wants to work down in the zone. If he’s on, he’s working in the bottom third of the strike zone and then expanding a little bit down and off the plate as well. That changeup is vital for him, as lefthanded hitters get a very good look at his pitches thanks to the same release point that is troublesome for righthanded hitters.

Split	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	SB	CS	BB	SO	SO/W	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHB	10	43	36	5	9	2	0	1	1	0	5	9	1.80	.250	.349	.389	.738	14	0	1	0	1	0	0	.296	55	108
vs LHB	10	27	20	7	8	3	0	2	0	0	6	5	0.83	.400	.519	.850	1.369	17	0	0	0	1	0	0	.429	179	288

Small sample size, but that's an extreme split. From Statcast, his changeup has actually been great vs lefties but his sinker has been terrible and resulted in all the damage. The sinker is 95mph, changeup is 90mph, and he has a 87mph slider that he only uses vs righties.

[Hallas]

3 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

This trade makes far more sense if you aren’t in position to contend soon.  If we weren’t, I would have been happy with this deal.

But since you are, your fall back is well we just keep him and contend with him. That’s a nice option to have.  Now, if the Os are contenders next year, I will bet they are looking to solidify the pen at the deadline and will be trading guys like the ones they just got for a reliever that probably isn’t as good as Lopez.

I think that, along this vein of thinking, this trade also makes a bit more sense if you trust Elias' ability to find and salvaged failed starters and turn them into cracked relievers.  The O's under his tenure have shown a knack for this.  That said, I probably agree with you; I personally think that bullpen arms are far too volatile to rely on your team's ability to find relievers off the scrap heap, and I think we sold Lopez a bit short. 

[Hallas]

1 hour ago, Roll Tide said:

Yes … but you still get 3ish for a MLB as they all aren’t going to work out. If any of these guys ends up a #3 starter or better you’ve won by a lot. 
 

I think a stater and a reliever for the big league club is a plus. BTW, you can’t get too many upper level guys as you can’t protect them all from the rule 5

The hope is that your upper level guys graduate to the majors, so it's moot.  If they're reaching the upper levels fast enough then they have a few years to spend before Rule 5 becomes an issue.

[Sports Guy]

17 minutes ago, Hallas said:

I think that, along this vein of thinking, this trade also makes a bit more sense if you trust Elias' ability to find and salvaged failed starters and turn them into cracked relievers.  The O's under his tenure have shown a knack for this.  That said, I probably agree with you; I personally think that bullpen arms are far too volatile to rely on your team's ability to find relievers off the scrap heap, and I think we sold Lopez a bit short. 

But if you believe this, you should then also believe that Lopez continues to pitch at a high level and therefore he will have more value later.

[Roll Tide]

24 minutes ago, Hallas said:

The hope is that your upper level guys graduate to the majors, so it's moot.  If they're reaching the upper levels fast enough then they have a few years to spend before Rule 5 becomes an issue.

We have started not having enough rule 5 slots already. Remember we lost Pop to Miami and he was recently dealt to the Jays. 
 

interesting return 2 MLB relief pitchers including a high leverage guy for one Blue Jays prospect (3rd on their list), and people are crying about the return for Lopez and Mancini

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/article263916376.html

 

 

[Hallas]

6 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

But if you believe this, you should then also believe that Lopez continues to pitch at a high level and therefore he will have more value later.

Well the line of thinking is that Elias can't find the next Lopez if the team doesn't have a roster spot for him.  If you trade Lopez now then you can find another Lopez this offseason and you're no worse off for next year, and you have more prospects.

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Hallas said:

Well the line of thinking is that Elias can't find the next Lopez if the team doesn't have a roster spot for him.  If you trade Lopez now then you can find another Lopez this offseason and you're no worse off for next year, and you have more prospects.

Yea, I don't buy that.  There would be relievers you can easily remove, just like we have this year with a guy like Baker.

[Just Regular]

Former closer Jhoan Duran now pitching the 8th inning with the Twins up 3-1 this afternoon.

[DirtyBird]

 

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by DirtyBird

[WI O’s Fan]

Looks like Elias sold on a high note with Jorge.  
A/J numbers  whip 1.10 era 1.70

A/S numbers whip 2.10 era 4.19

[Moose Milligan]

14 minutes ago, WI O’s Fan said:

Looks like Elias sold on a high note with Jorge.  
A/J numbers  whip 1.10 era 1.70

A/S numbers whip 2.10 era 4.19

Imagine that.  

[PHRESH]

39 minutes ago, WI O’s Fan said:

Looks like Elias sold on a high note with Jorge.  
A/J numbers  whip 1.10 era 1.70

A/S numbers whip 2.10 era 4.19

It was plain to see when you looked that the underlying numbers. He was a ticking time bomb and I'm glad we got something for him. 

[Moose Milligan]

15 minutes ago, PHRESH said:

It was plain to see when you looked that the underlying numbers. He was a ticking time bomb and I'm glad we got something for him. 

Yep.  Those few games before the ASB where he blew saves, it was just a sign that the wheels were close to be coming off.  

On 8/3/2022 at 11:14 AM, Sports Guy said:

If you were grading the deal, what grade would you give it?

I don't know, Billy Bob, what would you give it?

Sounds good to me, I give it a 10!