Continuing his 2022 trade deadline modus operandi of executing the trades sure to elicit the most emotion from the fan base, Mike Elias has followed up dealing Trey Mancini to Houston with another move, this time shipping Jorge Lopez off to the Twins.
While Mancini was the longest-tenured Oriole who was a fan favorite for myriad reasons, including oh yeah, BEATING CANCER, Jorge’s route into our hearts was a bit more unexpected. A reclamation project of Elias, Lopez was claimed off waivers from Kansas City in August of 2020. He went 3-14 with a 6.35 ERA last year as a starter, and the idea that he could ever be a useful piece, let alone a fan favorite, seemed to be a pipe dream.
However, much to his credit (and that of the O’s staff), he reinvented himself as a dominant reliever, and was slotted into the closer’s role to begin 2022. He has excelled there, with a 1.68 ERA and 19 saves in 23 attempts (with both his last two blown attempts coming against the Twins, ironically enough), and was named the Birds’ lone All-Star representative this year. O’s fans fell in love with his story, we saw manager Brandon Hyde get emotional when talking about him a couple times, and watching Adley Rutschman head out to meet him on the mound after wins was quickly becoming something to look forward to.
Adley Rutschman is a lot of things but above all else, he is a FRIEND pic.twitter.com/5mtBWsWAIU
— Ben Palmer (@benjpalmer) July 31, 2022
Well, that’s all over now, because Mike Elias CARES NOT FOR YOUR FEELINGS.
And, all things considered, that’s a good thing. When you can flip a waiver claim having what’s likely a career year into four arms, you gotta do it.
Full deal, per sources:
Minnesota gets: closer Jorge Lopez
Baltimore gets: LHP Cade Povich, RHP Yennier Cano, RHP Juan Nuñez and LHP Juan Rojas@JonHeyman was first with Lopez going to Minnesota
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 2, 2022
Per Fangraphs, LHP Cade Povich (12.24 K/9 in High-A) ranked 22nd in Twins org and RHP Yennier Cano brings MLB experience. Big GB and K numbers in the minors.
LHP Juan Rojas- 18 YO in FCL. 38/4 K/BB in 30 IP.
RHP Juan Nuñez- 21 YO in FCL. 47/10 K/BB in 29.2 IP pic.twitter.com/XKOIijyy3L
— The Verge- An Orioles MiLB Podcast (@BSLOnTheVerge) August 2, 2022
Is Mike done breaking our hearts? He has about two hours left to bring some more pain. The beatings will continue until morale improves.