The Miami Marlins trade Pablo López to Minnesota?!

This maybe the end of Pablo López in a Miami Marlins uniform! Recent reports indicate that The Fish are shopping him for hitters, and it appears that the pitching-needy Minnesota Twins are one of the favorites to acquire him. I wrote about Pablo as an extension candidate and about potential trade targets for him. It’s not fun to think about trading him, but if we do what can we expect from Minnesota?

The Miami Marlins may be trading Pablo López to the Minnesota Twins.

The Minnesota Twins need starting pitching to win the AL Central and have a chance in the playoffs. The Miami Marlins need hitting to compete for the playoffs next season. It’s pretty obvious that The Fish will be looking for players with significant team control, and Minnesota will avoid trading anyone for Pablo López who is key for them to win this season.

Pablo López has a 3.03 ERA/3.63 FIP in 20 games and 116 innings, along with a 2.9 WAR. He also has a 7-5 W-L record with 9.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. He’s getting $550,000 this season and will only his salary significantly rise, before he hits free agency after the 2024 season.

The latter gives an acquiring team the rest of this season and then two more seasons of control over him. The acquiring team can also potentially sign him to an extension, which the Miami Marlins are strangely not offering him based on the aforementioned report.

What can the Miami Marlins expect to receive in return for Pablo López? Alex Kirilloff immediately comes to mind. Kirilloff isn’t going to be a free agent until after the 2027 season, and currently has 0.0 WAR and a .265/.306/.382 batting line for the season. It may seem poor, but the former top prospect has outstanding Minor League numbers: .359/.465/.641 in AAA this season. The 1B/OF also hit 8 home runs in 215 AB’s last season.

The Minnesota Twins also have José Miranda to offer the Miami Marlins. Miranda is a first baseman/third baseman who is currently batting .271/.313/.457 in 60 games and 199 AB’s with 8 home runs and 36 RBI. He’s been worth 0.4 WAR. He just debuted this season.

There’s also 2B/SS Nick Gordon to look at in a possible Pablo López trade. Gordon is not a free agent until after the 2027 season. He has 0.3 WAR and a .254/.298/.385 batting line with 4 home runs and 13 RBI in 76 games and 205 AB’s. He was a speedster with good contact in the Minors.

Should the Miami Marlins trade Pablo López? I’d rather we extended him. If we must trade him though and to the Minnesota Twins specifically, the players above will be the main ones that we will be looking at.