Jorge Lopez traded to Twins for pitching prospects (edit)

[MurphDogg]

Why in the world would the Orioles have needed to send cash along with Lopez for this return?

[RVAOsFan]

Just now, MurphDogg said:

Why in the world would the Orioles have needed to send cash along with Lopez for this return?

I am baffled, what are we all missing here? This trade doesn't make any sense.

[RZNJ]

Per Baseball America on Cade Povich

Drafted in the 3rd round (98th overall) by the Minnesota Twins in 2021 (signed for $500,000)

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound southpaw had a lot of success at Nebraska this season, posting a 2.82 ERA over 13 starts and 73.1 innings, walking 19 and striking out 79 for the Huskers. Povich can run his fastball up to 93 mph and he gets swings and misses on it, but it sits in the upper 80s and questions remain about whether he can add strength to his frame and find more consistent velocity. If he can, the lefthander is a pretty good arm with the ability to spin a downer curveball and an average changeup to go along with the fastball. He throws strikes and some projection remains, but so do some questions.

[Sports Guy]

https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/twins-minor-league/2022-prospect-previews-cade-povich-r11803/

[eddie83]

1 minute ago, MurphDogg said:

Why in the world would the Orioles have needed to send cash along with Lopez for this return?

Should only be around $500k left this year.  They pay all of that?

[tntoriole]

Conversation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aaron Gleeman

 

@AaronGleeman

 

 

I wrote about Jorge López as a reliever the #MNTwins should target, but assumed it was unlikely because of the high expected price tag. https://theathletic.com/3389498/2022/06/30/twins-trade-deadline-relief-pitchers/… To get 2.5 seasons of López for their #20 prospect and a couple low-minors lottery ticket arms seems like a clear win.
 

Early opinions about the trade not so good

[Sydnor]

Just now, interloper said:

I think we have to chalk this one up to, Elias and Co like the guys they targeted and we'll see if they're right. 

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. 

Unless you think Lopez is going to fall off a cliff, you don’t have to trade him. He would still have value in the off-season and next year at the deadline (and a team would still have another year of control). I wasn’t expecting an Andrew Miller to Cleveland type return (which didn’t work out for the Yankees), but aren’t we at the point where we should be pursuing quality instead of lottery tickets and depth pieces?

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, MurphDogg said:

Why in the world would the Orioles have needed to send cash along with Lopez for this return?

Ok, so we aren’t being cheap.  We paid money, you would think, to increase the return but the return wasn’t good.

[bpilktree]

This is a decent trade Povich is a fast riser and even though he ranked a little lower in preseason rankings.  I expect he would have been much higher up that list 4/1 strikeout to walk rate in first season of professional ball is impressive.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 minute ago, MurphDogg said:

Why in the world would the Orioles have needed to send cash along with Lopez for this return?

Ok, now I'm starting to sour on this trade it's not like Lopez is entering free agency and the Orioles aren't going to resign him. 

[WarehouseChatter]

Absolute head-scratcher.  Now, I feel we must trade Santander and others.

[Orioles0615]

Feel like we are still waiting for the day when Elias trades for actual quality over lotto tickets 

[luismatos4prez]

This is a Bundy-style quantity over quality trade. Unexciting, I thought we'd get more for a controllable all-star closer.

At first glance, Povich seems like a Drew Rom level prospect. The two young guys, Nunez and Rojas, have great numbers but are very young and far away. Cano seems like a waiver wire type pickup. 

[Camden_yardbird]

Povich is young for his league, has a 4:1 k to walk ratio, and gives up less than a hit an inning.

Rojas is 18 in the FCL and has given up a total of 18 walks in 70 pro innings.  Sub 1.00 WHiP. Extreme control there. 

Juan Nunez, also in the FCL, has struck out 109 batters in 79 pro innings.

I can see the appeal.

Edited August 2, 2022 by Camden_yardbird

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Sydnor said:

Unless you think Lopez is going to fall off a cliff, you don’t have to trade him. He would still have value in the off-season and next year at the deadline (and a team would still have another year of control). I wasn’t expecting an Andrew Miller to Cleveland type return (which didn’t work out for the Yankees), but aren’t we at the point where we should be pursuing quality instead of lottery tickets and depth pieces?

And there isn’t any reason to think he will fall off a cliff either.