Minnesota land closer Jorge Lopez of Orioles

The Minnesota Twins’ recent trade earns them an All-Star closer from the Baltimore Orioles.

That Minnesota twins won’t lose their lead in the American League Central. With no sure bet in the nearer place, they turned to that Baltimore Orioles for some help by acquiring All-Star Closer Jorge Lopez.

Lopez was one of the better stories of the 2022 season in a Baltimore team that exceeded expectations. He leaves the Orioles with a 4-6 record, 1.68 ERA and 19 saves.

With a pull in the ninth inning, the Twins finally have an answer.

Twins trade details with the Orioles for Jorge Lopez

Rather than trying to fight for a wildcard spot and likely busting out early in the postseason, the Orioles acted wisely and capitalized on their best trade chips. Trey Mancini has already been traded to the Houston Astros. Lopez, a guy who entered the year 12-31 with a lifetime ERA of 6.04 in 350 big league innings, is the last to go.

To get it, the Twins had to give up a few pieces.

Cade Povich seems to be the headliner so far. The Twins’ 22nd player is a single-A-arm that the Orioles plan to develop. He leaves the Twins as a 22-year-old with an impressive underage strikeout rating but just a 4.06 ERA.

Yennier Cano, on the other hand, is a 28-year-old helper who the Orioles can only hope will repeat what Lopez did for them in 2022.

Minnesota was able to shock the baseball world in the offseason by snapping Carlos Correa in the free hand. Though the Lopez trade isn’t quite in the same family, it’s an important and sweet deal for a team hoping to go deep in October.

The twins enter the final day of MLB trade deadline just one game ahead of the Cleveland Guardians, who are finding ways to win without making big moves. Hoping they can make up for Emilio Pagan’s lackluster bullpen performance in the Closer role and set him up with Jhoan Duran, it’s hard to imagine they wouldn’t come out on top with this deal.