A recreation over .500 and solely a handful of video games out of a playoff spot, the Orioles traded All-Star nearer Jorge López to the Minnesota Twins for 4 pitching prospects.
It’s the second straight day the Orioles traded away a serious league contributor at a time their rebuild appears to be lastly coming to fruition on the main league degree. On Monday, Baltimore traded first baseman Trey Mancini to the Houston Astros for 2 pitching prospects as a part of a three-team swap that included the Tampa Bay Rays. Tuesday at 6 p.m. marks MLB’s commerce deadline.
In return for López and money issues, Baltimore obtained 4 extra pitchers from Minnesota, getting left-handers Cade Povich and Juan Rojas and right-hander Yennier Cano and right-handers Yennier Canó and Juan Nuñez. The Orioles recalled left-handed reliever Nick Vespi to fill López’s vacated roster spot.
López has been with the Orioles since 2020, arriving as a waiver declare from the Kansas City Royals. After struggling within the center innings as a starter, López moved to the again of Baltimore’s bullpen and had speedy success, thriving as supervisor Brandon Hyde’s nearer and representing the Orioles in final month’s All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
Unlike Mancini, who was within the ultimate assured yr of his contract, López received’t be a free agent till after the 2024 season. The 29-year-old right-hander has a 1.68 ERA and 19 saves in 23 tries. Half of his blown saves got here in consecutive appearances in opposition to his new membership in early July.
The Orioles adopted these back-to-back walk-off losses with a 10-game profitable streak, propelling them to .500 and in attain of a playoff spot. A win Monday night time made them a profitable membership at 52-51 and introduced them inside 2 1/2 video games of an American League wild-card spot.
In explaining buying and selling away Mancini on Monday, Orioles govt vp and basic supervisor Mike Elias cited “the outlook and the probabilities of this year” regarding the Orioles reaching the playoffs. They are within the hardest division in baseball, with all the AL East’s 4 different playoff staff’s additionally combating for postseason berths.
For that motive, Elias has prioritized the longer term in trades, hoping to maximise what he known as a “championship window.” López, underneath staff management for 2 years past this one, seemingly might have been part of that.
Instead, he heads to a Twins staff battling for the AL Central title, whereas the Orioles will flip to different members of a breakout bullpen, almost definitely right-handers Félix Bautista and Dillon Tate, to deal with the ninth inning.
Cano, 28, is the one participant within the return package deal to have already reached the majors, pitching 13 2/3 innings for the Twins this yr. Povich, 22, ranked as Minnesota’s No. 21 prospect, in accordance with Baseball America, and has struck out greater than 12 batters per 9 innings as a starter in High-A. Both Rojas, 18, and Nuñez, 21, posted spectacular strikeout-to-walk ratios within the Florida Complex League.
Baltimore Sun reporter Andy Kostka contributed to this report. This story will likely be up to date.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com