Injury Opens Door For A's to Strike Deal with Minnesota Twins
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The Minnesota Twins received some awful injury news on Friday, with one of their frontline starters, Pablo López officially being ruled out for the entirety of the 2026 campaign. Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic was the first to report the news that he'd need Tommy John surgery.
The Twins are now projected for a 79-83 record according to FanGraphs, even with the loss of López, leaving them a game behind the A's in the projections. The 29-year-old righty was tremendous for the Twins last season, holding a 2.75 ERA, until a start in early June in Sacramento. In that game he left early with a right shoulder strain and had to miss three months of the season, returning in September.
After the Twins left Sacramento, they had plenty to say, from Carlos Correa not enjoying the batter's box, to Joe Ryan blaming the mound for Lopez's injury. That could lead to some extra spice in this season's series, now that López is set to miss a very extended period for Minnesota.
The A's by no means have to help out the Twins, especially since they're only projected for one more win than Minnesota, but this injury could be an opportunity for the A's to make the most of the situation, while building up the best 40-man roster they can.
A's may have arms to spare
While the A's won't be trading anyone that would be close to López out of the gate, there could be some useful big-league arms that they could be looking to move when camp is getting closer to closing.
At the very least, the A's will presumably be active on the trade market in 2026 as their prospects continue to rise through the ranks and they need higher-end reinforcements to supplement that group.
The entirety of this speculation relies upon some specific names throwing the ball pretty well this spring, with those names being Gage Jump, Jack Perkins, Luis Morales and Jacob Lopez. Beyond that, the A's also need their rotation to stay healthy so that none of their depth options need to be deployed at the beginning of the year.
If their depth is looking ok to start, perhaps they'd feel comfortable moving someone like a Joey Estes or a J.T. Ginn. The only reason we bring up those two is that they may have the most trouble pitching in Sacramento, from what we've seen, and the altitude in Las Vegas probably isn't going to make that better.
They may have a better shot at success pitching in Minnesota and playing against teams in the AL Central.
Estes is a bulldog competitor that tossed a Maddux in 2024. He struggled in his first two starts with the A's last season, and then spent the majority of the year pitching in Triple-A. His road to the show isn't exactly clear with the emergence of new arms, but he's still a solid depth guy to have on the roster. Maybe he's a better fit for the Twins?
Ginn may not be available at all, given that he's showed some promise himself, holding a 5.08 ERA in 90 1/3 innings last year, but also held a 3.74 xERA (expected ERA), based on the type of contact he was giving up. Ginn ranked in the 89th percentile in ground ball rate, 75th in whiff%, and 71st in K%. There are certainly pieces of the profile to like.
He was also much better on the road (3.14 ERA) than at home (6.85), and ended up walking just 4.7% of the hitters he faced away from Sutter Health Park, while giving up a free pass to 10.4% of them at home. He's a solid bounce back candidate for the A's this season, or he could end up being a trade candidate if the front office feels that how he pitches won't translate to their home park.
What would the A's be after?
Where this deal gets tricky is that the A's could also use a boost in pitching, where they aren't projected to have a ton of success in 2026. If we're talking about a trade that would happen before the season, it would likely be someone on the A's 40-man roster that they're looking to move to clear space, in exchange for a minor leaguer that doesn't need to be on the 40-man just yet.
This is the same tactic that the A's have used in their two most recent trades, moving Mitch Spence to the Kansas City Royals, and Max Schuemann to the New York Yankees. In those deals they got back intriguing prospects that they have some time to decide what to do with.
That could be the route for the A's in a pre-season deal. Someone like an Andrew Morris (4.09 ERA in 94 2/3 innings in Triple-A), only not on the 40-man roster. Morris is the Twins No. 19 prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
If a deal were to happen later in the season, there is another pathway to consider, if the A's are in the mix and the Twins are out of it, and that would be for the A's to go after veteran left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers.
As we sit here on the first day of spring games for the A's, their bullpen is still fairly green in the grand scheme of things, they only have one surefire lefty in the mix in Hogan Harris, and they could use one more guy with some closing experience. Rogers is that guy.
When the A's bullpen was firing on all cylinders during the final two months of the season, they had both Harris and veteran Sean Newcomb as lefty options that could eat innings or close out games. Rogers would bring some versatility to the bullpen, along with some stability.
With the Twins trying to compete heading into the season, however, he's not likely to be available unless Minnesota finds themselves out of it.
Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
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