Minnesota Twins: Send Ryan Jeffers to the Miami Marlins for Pablo Lopez.
The Miami Marlins have a ton of young starting pitching, both at the major league level and in their farm system. Thus, if they are looking to upgrade in other areas, they might want to consider trading from a position of strength. One position that needs to be addressed for them is catcher, and the Twins might be able to help them out.
For all the big young arms the Marlins have, one name that people don’t hear a lot about is Pablo Lopez. The 25-year-old right-hander missed some time due to injury in 2021, but he was pretty good when he was on the mound. In 20 starts, Lopez posted a 3.07 ERA while striking out 115 batters in 102.2 innings of work. He’s under team control for four more years and could be a nice, cheap addition to the Twins’ starting rotation.
The big question is, do you want to go into the 2022 season with Mitch Garver or Ryan Jeffers at catcher? Garver has the potential to be one of the game’s best-hitting catchers, but injuries have been a concern. When he’s on the field, he can be a solid home run threat. The Marlins may like to have him, but I’m not sure how far ahead the Twins would be getting if they were to trade him away to add a starting pitcher like Lopez.
Thus, I decided to include Jeffers in the trade. It’s true that he didn’t have a great first season at the plate, but at 24 years old he still has a lot of time to improve. If Jeffers interests the Marlins, this could be a trade that could benefit both sides. Because Jeffers hasn’t fully proven himself at the major league level yet, the Twins might need to throw in a bench player or prospect to make this happen.