Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez has signed a four-year $73.5 million dollar contract extension with the team due to his great start to the 2023 MLB season.
Pablo López and the Twins are finalizing a four-year, $73.5 million extension, per source. @CraigMish was on it.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) April 17, 2023
Lopez was traded from the Miami Marlins in exchange for utility player Luis Arraez. Arraez himself has been off to a hot start as well. So far this season, he is bating .471 with one homerun and six RBIs. He also has a 1.173 OPS. This trade is looking like a win-win for both teams.
Lopez has had an exceptional start to the season. He is 1-1 with a 1.79 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 26.o innings pitched. Lopez becomes a free agent in 2025 so it is wise for the Twins organization to lock up of one of their star pitchers for the foreseeable future.
Lopez made his MLB debut with the Miami Marlins and was really good. He threw six innings allowing six hits and two earned runs while walking one and striking out five. He earned the win and quickly solidified himself as one of the top pitchers in the Marlins rotation at the time.
It was surprising that the Marlins did trade Lopez, but they got a nice player in Luis Arraez in return so we cannot fault them too much. If Lopez ends up winning the AL Cy Young then it will be a different story, however.
Lopez is +4000 to win the AL Cy Young Award according to MLB betting sites.
Lopez will pair nicely alongside Joe Ryan, who is also an up and coming ace type pitcher in the MLB. The Twins are currently first in the AL Central with a record of 10-6. They are looking to get back on track to be the top of the division and go back to the playoffs.
The Minnesota Twins are currently -125 to win the AL Central according to Minnesota sportsbooks.
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