Video: The Minnesota Twins Should Trade Pablo Lopez & Joe Ryan This Offseason

[Eric Blonigen]

The 2026 Twins figure to be a team in transition, with no bullpen to speak of and an underperforming offense. They do, however, have pitching depth and significant hitting reinforcements on the way. With contending seeming a bit unlikely, the Twins should maximize their return on the two main pitchers they didn’t trade in the deadline fire sale — Joe Ryan and Pablo López. Doing so just might ensure their next competitive window starts in 2027.

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[cjvirnig]

While trading Ryan and Lopez is admittedly likely, I personally disagree that it's the right decision. For starters, quality starting pitching is the single most elusive puzzle piece to acquire when building a roster. When you have it, you should never get rid of it. Secondly, the Twins rotation could very easily be above average in 2026 -- perhaps even well above average when you consider the impressive (and rare) depth they have at the position. Why not start the rebuild there? Falvey could easily acquire 2-3 quality bullpen arms in free agency & the team can fill out the rest of the pen internally. Yes, the offense/position player side of the coin is full of question marks. But...if guys like Lewis, Lee, Wallner, etc. surprise us and take steps forward next year, the team could potentially exceed expectations when paired with an already solid pitching staff. Conversely, if you trade Ryan & Lopez and go for a complete rebuild, there's no guarantee this team will return to contention in 2-3 years. They could just as easily be awful for 5, 6, or 7 years. We see that all the time with failed rebuilds in places like Pittsburgh, Colorado, Miami, etc. 

[ashbury]

54 minutes ago, cjvirnig said:

if you trade Ryan & Lopez and go for a complete rebuild, there's no guarantee this team will return to contention in 2-3 years. They could just as easily be awful for 5, 6, or 7 years. We see that all the time with failed rebuilds in places like Pittsburgh, Colorado, Miami, etc. 

Concur.  What's hidden under the surface when you have a reliable starter is all the sifting you had to go through to find him.  Except for the very top draft choices (and probably not even them), there's no assurance that any pitcher can handle the workload of a full season of 32 starts and, on top of that, excel.  Even when you trade for a "major league ready" arm like Joe Ryan, there are doubts, and you are paying the price of risk-analysis by acquiring him (look at it this way, the Rays weren't sold on Ryan or he would have been untouchable).  

Look at Ryan more specifically. The same season we traded for him, we were also crapping around giving starts to such luminaries as Beau Burrows, Lewis Thorpe, Charlie Barnes, Griffin Jax (who was later repurposed to the pen).  The Joe Ryan we see today isn't simply this singular talent; he contains these other guys too.  There's a high potential for a lot of losing baseball while we work at replacing him.

And yet, I can't disagree that the we're headed toward trading him and Lopez away.  The die was cast, when the FO traded away all of the established bullpen talent.  What I just said about sifting through to find the gems applies even moreso to the relievers - we're not getting back to the general level of bullpen competence (it was never "shutdown" like some teams achieve) in a single offseason.

I didn't advocate for a teardown and I don't particularly like it and I especially dislike giving the same FO another rebuild given that the last one they architected has fizzled, but here we are.  I don't advocate half-assing things now.  I hope the FO doesn't try to muddle through.  LFG, finish the remake by getting something in return for the value our best pitchers provide in a pair of coming seasons in which the Twins won't reap any benefits anyway.

FWIW though, I have taking this approach at times when I play OOTP as a general manager.  It almost always doesn't work out the way I hope, and instead puts the franchise in a death spiral of declining revenue and ever-narrowing options.

A final note: I don't think you can leave out of the analysis the possibility that there will be a work-stoppage of some kind in 2027 when the Collective Bargaining Agreement is renegotiated.  If 2027 was already questionable as a year of contention for the Twins, it tilts the decision even stronger toward trading away the assets controlled in that year.  OTOH the other teams read the same tea leaves, and it's possible the "prospect haul" will be lower than most people are expecting.

[twinstalker]

I see no competence toward getting proper value back.  I don't think the Twins have the ability to trade them and recover.  They might, but I think the probability is small.  If they're going to do it, now's the time.  The Twins won't win next year because no one in power understands hitting.  No point in having Lopez and Ryan around, really.  Then after next season, their value is diminished greatly, plus they risk injury next year.

[USAFChief]

4 hours ago, ashbury said:

 

I didn't advocate for a teardown and I don't particularly like it and I especially dislike giving the same FO another rebuild given that the last one they architected has fizzled, but here we are.  

The crux of it.

 

[The Great Hambino]

If you don't trust the front office to get good value in trading Lopez and Ryan, how do you trust them to effectively retool on the fly to a degree that makes the team legitimately competitive while Lopez and Ryan are under contract?

 

[David Maro]

First off why would either one want to stay through a rebuild. They both are deep into their careers. The team is years away from competing for a winning season. The objective for a player is to win the WS not play for a last place team.

Until someone in this organization wakes up and fires any and all the management the team the fans are watching today is the team of the future.

[Vanimal46]

Yep, they probably should trade both. My hope is Falvey and Baldelli are both fired after this season and the new GM keeps 1 of Ryan or Lopez to lead the new and improved culture.