Report: Twins, Pablo López Nearing Four-Year Contract Extension
The days of letting impact starting pitchers walk out the door could soon be over for the Minnesota Twins as they are reportedly nearing a long-term contract extension with right-hander Pablo López.
López, previously arbitration-eligible next season and a free agent after 2024, is expected to sign a four-year deal worth $73.5 million, pending physical, according to senior baseball writer Craig Mish. His contract will buy out at least two free-agent years and include an opt-out after Year 3.
No contract options are believed to be part of the deal, with all four years potentially guaranteed.
The 27-year-old likely won’t complete his team physical for a few days after pitching six innings during Sunday’s 2-0 loss to the New York Yankees. He avoided arbitration with Minnesota last January, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $5.45 million.
Once finalized, López will become the latest hurler to sign a lucrative deal this season, following San Francisco’s Logan Webb, who was inked to a five-year, $90-million extension last week.
Three-fifths of Minnesota’s starting rotation will be eligible for free agency after 2023 – including Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle – so locking up López ahead of time provides some cost certainty for general manager Thad Levine. It also guarantees López and Joe Ryan will headline next season’s rotation.
After whiffing on free-agent starters like Carlos Rodon and Chris Bassitt last off-season, the Twins completed a blockbuster trade with the Miami Marlins, swapping MLB batting title champion Luis Arraez for López. And so far, the deal has been a win-win for both franchises.
Arraez has been an instant hit – literally and figuratively – in Miami, slashing .471/.526/.647 with six extra-base hits, 6 RBIs and a 221 wRC+ over 15 games, worth 0.8 fWAR. He became the first Marlins player to hit for the cycle after going 4-for-5 in an 8-4 win on Apr. 11.
The 26-year-old lefty is under contract for $6.1 million this season and features two more years of arbitration eligibility before hitting free agency after the 2025 campaign.
López, meanwhile, is on track to enjoy one of the top statistical performances of his career. He owns a 1.73 ERA and 2.71 FIP across four starts, compiling at least seven strikeouts and five innings in each outing.
One of his biggest adjustments from Miami to Minnesota has been introducing a sweeper – a slider with slower velocity and more horizontal break – to his arsenal. It’s now his second-most utilized pitch, behind his four-seamer, with opponents hitting just .111 AVG against it while registering a 50 percent whiff rate.
Thus, the rest of López’s offerings have become more effective, increasing his overall strikeout rate to 33.7 percent, ranking in the 91st percentile. It would also be a career-high over a full season, doubling last season’s rate (23.6 percent).
The surging righty has also succeeded at avoiding hard contact, as his hard-hit (33.3 percent) and barrel rates (5.3 percent) rank in the 69th and 67th percentiles, respectively.
At this rate, López is on his way to becoming a breakout star in 2023.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Andy Witchger. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.