Twins 'biggest regret' is missed opportunity with $73.5 million trade chip

Twins 'biggest regret' is missed opportunity with $73. 5 million trade chip originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

The Minnesota Twins were not going to be a postseason contender in 2026, as they've been selling off a ton of their top talent over the past year. But, they've kept a few key players who, if they could trade away, would surely fetch a huge return. Byron Buxton and Joe Ryan are still on the team, but there's another star player whom the Twins might regret making a certain decision on.

As Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report noted, the Twins' "biggest regret" this past offseason might be their decision not to trade away their $73. 5 million All-Star starting pitcher, Pablo Lopez. Twins might regret their lack of trade with Pablo Lopez "Perhaps hindsight is 20/20, but it's not as though trading Pablo Lopez and/or Joe Ryan wasn't at least a topic of conversation in the offseason," Kelly writes.

"The window to move the former slammed shut when he had to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery in mid-February. " The Twins losing Lopez for the entire 2026 season, and into the 2027 season, isn't just a massive blow for the rotation, but for the team-building of the Twins. He was a pitcher who could've been on the move this offseason, and had the Twins made such a trade and sent him to a contender, they would've been able to get some quality value for their All-Star starter.