MLB Trade Rumors: Pablo Lopez Linked to 5 Teams

The Minnesota Twins are in a state of upheaval this offseason. Caught in between whether to continue to tear it down or try to compete in the AL Central in 2026, they could quite conceivably trade one or more of their top players, including outfielder Byron Buxton and starters Joe Ryan and/or Pablo López.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale stated this week that the Twins are trying to lower debt by trading at least one of those starting pitchers.

For Lopez, he has two seasons left on his current contract, during which he'll earn $21.75 million annually. The 29-year-old was having another excellent season in 2025, until it was cut short with a teres major strain that kept him out for most of the last three months. He finished with a 2.74 ERA in 14 starts, with a 1.11 WHIP and a 73:20 strikeout to walk ratio in 75.2 innings.

ESPN insider Jeff Passan lists Lopez as having a 50% chance of being dealt this offseason, and lists five teams that would be a fit:

NY Mets
Baltimore Orioles
San Francisco Giants
Houston Astros
San Diego Padres

Several teams losing their aces this winter have interest in Pablo Lopez

Lopez would slot in as a No. 1 or No. 2 on four of those teams: the Mets, Orioles, Astros and Padres. The Mets are considering trading Kodai Senga, who began last season as their ace, while the Astros and Padres will lose, or have already lost, aces Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease and Michael King in free agency. The O's don't really have an ace, unless they're counting on Trevor Rogers to repeat his breakout half-season.

The Astros still have Hunter Brown at the top of their staff even after the inevitable loss in the coming weeks of Valdez, while the Giants still have their one-two punch at the top of their rotation in Logan Webb and Robbie Ray.

But no doubt, Lopez would make any of those rotations significantly better.

The Mets, of that group, have the best farm system from which to assemble an attractive deal for the Twins, while the Orioles are still solid in that regard as well.

Lopez has a 3.81 ERA across eight major league seasons, with a 1.17 WHIP and 9.3 K/9 against just 2.3 walks/9.