The Minnesota Twins Should’ve Traded Pablo Lopez Last Year | Deadspin.com

The Minnesota Twins Should’ve Traded Pablo Lopez Last Year | Deadspin.com

Sports news

The Minnesota Twins have been among the unluckiest teams in baseball for most of the 21st century. More recently, they’ve assembled one of the better rosters in the American League, but it hasn’t led to much success in the postseason. They haven’t made it out of the ALDS since 2002, and with how their roster continued to fall apart at the worst times, they decided to close their window of contention at the trade deadline last season.

Minnesota blew up their roster, trading 10 players at the deadline, including Carlos Correa, Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and many other important pieces. They got some decent pieces back in these trades, but they made many of these moves to shed salary.

The way they tore things down never made much sense. They gutted their roster but kept their three most valuable trade assets, which will never be valuable pieces on a contender in Minnesota.

Byron Buxton is coming off one of the healthiest years in his career, but at age 32, how much time does he have before his play begins to suffer after dealing with as many injuries as he has? Buxton is signed to a relatively team-friendly deal, but only through 2028. I don’t see Minnesota as a serious contender over the next three years, so holding on to him only keeps this team from truly bottoming out and landing a top draft pick.

The move that really never made sense for the Twins was holding on to Pablo Lopez. Of course, it’s easier for me to say this after seeing that he will miss all of 2026 with a torn UCL Ligament, but even at the time, it never made sense to hold on to him.

The Twins were looking to shed money at the deadline, and Lopez was making $21.5 million. Not only that, but the last deadline was a complete seller’s market for pitchers. Even with a questionable bill of health for Lopez, he could’ve gotten a massive return for Minnesota.

Again, hindsight is 20/20, and nobody expected him to miss this entire season, but not cashing in on him after you had already traded 10 other players is organizational malpractice. It’s not like the Twins were even close to a playoff spot. Things really got worse down the stretch, but they still lost 92 games last year; it was simply not a good baseball team.

It might be a long few years for Twins fans. Detroit has one of the best rotations in baseball and multiple top prospects on the way. Kansas City has Bobby Whitt Jr. and a young core looking to compete. 

Then there’s always Cleveland who manages to break the Twins’ hearts year after year. Get ready for some rough times in the Twin Cities.

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Deadspin | Brewers continue run of West Coast as they visit Giants Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio (11) hits a ground ball RBI during the sixth inning of their game against the Colorado Rockies Sunday, July 26, 2026 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Brewers continue the western portion of their schedule — this time on the road — when they visit San Francisco for the opener of a three-game series Monday night. Brewers right-hander Brandon Sproat (3-5, 5.09 ERA) and Giants righty Tyler Mahle (2-9, 5.31) are the scheduled starters in the clubs’ second head-to-head of the season, with the teams having split a four-game set in Milwaukee last month. Neither Sproat nor Mahle pitched in that series. The Brewers flew west Sunday night after having completed a 7-2 homestand with an 11-2 shellacking of the Colorado Rockies. They travel to Anaheim, Calif., for a weekend series against the Angels after they leave San Francisco. The three contests against Colorado began a stretch in which the Brewers will play either National League West or American League West opponents in 19 of 26 games. After the Angels series, the Brewers return home for a week, then visit the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers on another trip west. The stretch concludes with a three-game visit from the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 18-20. When last seen on the road, the Brewers were getting swept in a three-game series by the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 11 and 12. Sproat pitched the first of the Pittsburgh games, an outing in which his manager, Pat Murphy, criticized him for allowing 28 foul balls, many on two-strike counts. “He’s not (committed) in his put-away pitch,” Murphy observed to the media after the 7-6 defeat in the first game of a July 11 doubleheader. “You’ve got to be able to put people away. Not just strike people out — put them away. He’s got that really good sinker. He’s got a good sweeper. He’s got a very capable cutter. Just didn’t get it done.” The 25-year-old has made just one start since, and experienced similar issues. He needed 99 pitches to record 14 outs, pulled in the fifth inning of a 4-0 home loss to the New York Mets last Tuesday. He has never pitched against the Giants. The Brewers, on the other hand, are quite familiar with Mahle. They’ve roughed up the 31-year-old to the tune of a 1-3 record and 5.36 ERA over nine lifetime starts. Mahle has pitched better than his overall record might indicate in his last two outings, limiting the Rockies and Kansas City Royals to four runs in 12 combined innings. San Francisco split those games. The Giants enter the series hoping to put a wrap on their third consecutive winning homestand. They took two of three from the Angels despite a 4-3 defeat Sunday. The series will be San Francisco’s last at home before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, which means every performance by a home-team player could be his last as a Giant. One guy often mentioned in trade rumors, Rafael Devers, overcame the distraction to homer in each of San Francisco’s home wins over the Angels. “We’re aware that our record is not very positive as far as adjustments that maybe the front office is going to make,” he noted to reporters over the weekend. “It’s something that I don’t think about. It’s something that they’re going to have to (think about), but we’re just concentrating on what we can control.” –Field Level Media #Deadspin #Brewers #continue #run #West #Coast #visit #GiantsMilwaukee Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio (11) hits a ground ball RBI during the sixth inning of their game against the Colorado Rockies Sunday, July 26, 2026 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Brewers continue the western portion of their schedule — this time on the road — when they visit San Francisco for the opener of a three-game series Monday night.

Brewers right-hander Brandon Sproat (3-5, 5.09 ERA) and Giants righty Tyler Mahle (2-9, 5.31) are the scheduled starters in the clubs’ second head-to-head of the season, with the teams having split a four-game set in Milwaukee last month.

Neither Sproat nor Mahle pitched in that series.

The Brewers flew west Sunday night after having completed a 7-2 homestand with an 11-2 shellacking of the Colorado Rockies. They travel to Anaheim, Calif., for a weekend series against the Angels after they leave San Francisco.

The three contests against Colorado began a stretch in which the Brewers will play either National League West or American League West opponents in 19 of 26 games.

After the Angels series, the Brewers return home for a week, then visit the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers on another trip west. The stretch concludes with a three-game visit from the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 18-20.

When last seen on the road, the Brewers were getting swept in a three-game series by the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 11 and 12.

Sproat pitched the first of the Pittsburgh games, an outing in which his manager, Pat Murphy, criticized him for allowing 28 foul balls, many on two-strike counts.


“He’s not (committed) in his put-away pitch,” Murphy observed to the media after the 7-6 defeat in the first game of a July 11 doubleheader. “You’ve got to be able to put people away. Not just strike people out — put them away. He’s got that really good sinker. He’s got a good sweeper. He’s got a very capable cutter. Just didn’t get it done.”

The 25-year-old has made just one start since, and experienced similar issues. He needed 99 pitches to record 14 outs, pulled in the fifth inning of a 4-0 home loss to the New York Mets last Tuesday.

He has never pitched against the Giants.

The Brewers, on the other hand, are quite familiar with Mahle. They’ve roughed up the 31-year-old to the tune of a 1-3 record and 5.36 ERA over nine lifetime starts.

Mahle has pitched better than his overall record might indicate in his last two outings, limiting the Rockies and Kansas City Royals to four runs in 12 combined innings. San Francisco split those games.

The Giants enter the series hoping to put a wrap on their third consecutive winning homestand. They took two of three from the Angels despite a 4-3 defeat Sunday.

The series will be San Francisco’s last at home before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, which means every performance by a home-team player could be his last as a Giant.

One guy often mentioned in trade rumors, Rafael Devers, overcame the distraction to homer in each of San Francisco’s home wins over the Angels.

“We’re aware that our record is not very positive as far as adjustments that maybe the front office is going to make,” he noted to reporters over the weekend. “It’s something that I don’t think about. It’s something that they’re going to have to (think about), but we’re just concentrating on what we can control.”


–Field Level Media

#Deadspin #Brewers #continue #run #West #Coast #visit #Giants">Deadspin | Brewers continue run of West Coast as they visit Giants Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio (11) hits a ground ball RBI during the sixth inning of their game against the Colorado Rockies Sunday, July 26, 2026 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Brewers continue the western portion of their schedule — this time on the road — when they visit San Francisco for the opener of a three-game series Monday night. Brewers right-hander Brandon Sproat (3-5, 5.09 ERA) and Giants righty Tyler Mahle (2-9, 5.31) are the scheduled starters in the clubs’ second head-to-head of the season, with the teams having split a four-game set in Milwaukee last month. Neither Sproat nor Mahle pitched in that series. The Brewers flew west Sunday night after having completed a 7-2 homestand with an 11-2 shellacking of the Colorado Rockies. They travel to Anaheim, Calif., for a weekend series against the Angels after they leave San Francisco. The three contests against Colorado began a stretch in which the Brewers will play either National League West or American League West opponents in 19 of 26 games. After the Angels series, the Brewers return home for a week, then visit the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers on another trip west. The stretch concludes with a three-game visit from the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 18-20. When last seen on the road, the Brewers were getting swept in a three-game series by the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 11 and 12. Sproat pitched the first of the Pittsburgh games, an outing in which his manager, Pat Murphy, criticized him for allowing 28 foul balls, many on two-strike counts. “He’s not (committed) in his put-away pitch,” Murphy observed to the media after the 7-6 defeat in the first game of a July 11 doubleheader. “You’ve got to be able to put people away. Not just strike people out — put them away. He’s got that really good sinker. He’s got a good sweeper. He’s got a very capable cutter. Just didn’t get it done.” The 25-year-old has made just one start since, and experienced similar issues. He needed 99 pitches to record 14 outs, pulled in the fifth inning of a 4-0 home loss to the New York Mets last Tuesday. He has never pitched against the Giants. The Brewers, on the other hand, are quite familiar with Mahle. They’ve roughed up the 31-year-old to the tune of a 1-3 record and 5.36 ERA over nine lifetime starts. Mahle has pitched better than his overall record might indicate in his last two outings, limiting the Rockies and Kansas City Royals to four runs in 12 combined innings. San Francisco split those games. The Giants enter the series hoping to put a wrap on their third consecutive winning homestand. They took two of three from the Angels despite a 4-3 defeat Sunday. The series will be San Francisco’s last at home before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, which means every performance by a home-team player could be his last as a Giant. One guy often mentioned in trade rumors, Rafael Devers, overcame the distraction to homer in each of San Francisco’s home wins over the Angels. “We’re aware that our record is not very positive as far as adjustments that maybe the front office is going to make,” he noted to reporters over the weekend. “It’s something that I don’t think about. It’s something that they’re going to have to (think about), but we’re just concentrating on what we can control.” –Field Level Media #Deadspin #Brewers #continue #run #West #Coast #visit #Giants

Welcome to the future. Jackson Koivun runs things around here.

It took just 13 starts on the PGA Tour for the Auburn Tiger to stand in the winner’s circle and he did so at the 3M Open over the weekend. Talk about arriving in style.

Jackson is just a few months removed from his 21st birthday so it stands to reason that there will be a number of times where he beats the field in the years to come. Interestingly it has not been too long since someone so young won a PGA Tour event as Aldrich Potgieter won last year at the Rocket Classic before even turning 21.

While that is the case from a general standpoint, Jackson made serious history relative to American golfers specifically. He is the youngest American to win by multiple strokes since Ralph Guldahl won the 1932 WM Phoenix Open.

Jackson won by 3 strokes to make that true, and for what it’s worth the American he beat in that capacity was Tiger Woods who won by 12 at the Masters of all places when he was about a month older than Jackson is now. No big deal.

Congratulations to Jackson, and welcome to the future.

#Jackson #Koivun #proves #future #Open #victory">Jackson Koivun proves future is now with 3M Open victory Welcome to the future. Jackson Koivun runs things around here.It took just 13 starts on the PGA Tour for the Auburn Tiger to stand in the winner’s circle and he did so at the 3M Open over the weekend. Talk about arriving in style.Jackson is just a few months removed from his 21st birthday so it stands to reason that there will be a number of times where he beats the field in the years to come. Interestingly it has not been too long since someone so young won a PGA Tour event as Aldrich Potgieter won last year at the Rocket Classic before even turning 21.While that is the case from a general standpoint, Jackson made serious history relative to American golfers specifically. He is the youngest American to win by multiple strokes since Ralph Guldahl won the 1932 WM Phoenix Open.Jackson won by 3 strokes to make that true, and for what it’s worth the American he beat in that capacity was Tiger Woods who won by 12 at the Masters of all places when he was about a month older than Jackson is now. No big deal.Congratulations to Jackson, and welcome to the future. #Jackson #Koivun #proves #future #Open #victory

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