Twins acquire Orioles All-Star closer Jorge Lopez in trade
Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Jorge Lopez throws a pitch to the Tampa Bay Rays during the 10th inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in Baltimore. The Rays won 6-4 in ten innings. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The Minnesota Twins have added a bullpen arm in a trade deadline day deal with the Baltimore Orioles.
The Twins acquired Orioles All-Star closer Jorge Lopez on Tuesday morning, the team announced.
Lopez, 29, was a first-time All-Star for the Orioles this season and has a record of 4-6 with a 1.68 ERA, 54 strikeouts, 17 walks, 19 saves and a .174 batting average against across 48.1 innings.
He’s also got two more years of team control via arbitration after this season.
In exchange for Lopez, the Twins sent Baltimore four players: left-handed pitcher Cade Povich — Minnesota’s third-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft and the organization’s No. 22-ranked prospect, per MLB.com — as well as relief pitcher Yennier Cano and pitchers Juan Nunez and Juan Rojas.
Cano, 28, has bounced between Triple-A and the Twins this season but has a 9.22 ERA across 13.2 innings for the Twins. Nunez, 21, has a 4.85 ERA in 29.2 innings in the rookie-level Florida Complex League while Rojas, 18, has a 3.60 ERA across 30 innings in the same league.
MLB.com didn’t rank Cano, Rojas or Nunez in the Twins’ top 30 prospects.
The MLB trade deadline is 5 p.m. (CT) Tuesday.