Twins, Pablo López reportedly agree to 4-year extension

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Just a few months after acquiring Pablo López in a trade with the Miami Marlins, the Minnesota Twins are keeping the pitcher in town for the foreseeable future.

López and the Twins agreed to a four-year extension worth $73.5 million on Monday, per multiple reports. The contract buys López out of his final arbitration season in 2024 and pushes his free-agency clock to the 2027-28 offseason.

López is less than a month into his official tenure with the Twins. He began his career with the Marlins, who he spent the first five seasons of his MLB career with. Miami traded the 27-year-old right-hander to Minnesota in January for Luis Arráez.

The early returns of that trade look good for both sides. López is 1-1 with a 1.73 ERA in his first four starts, striking out a league-leading 33 hitters entering Monday's MLB slate. Arráez, who won the American League batting title in 2022, is hitting an MLB-best .471 entering Monday.

López pitched a couple of solid seasons with the Marlins prior to his strong start with the Twins. He went 5-5 with a career-best 3.07 ERA over 20 starts in 2021. Last season, López went 10-10 with a 3.75 ERA in 180 innings pitched over 32 starts. 

López actually began his professional career with the Seattle Mariners, who signed him as an international free agent in 2012 out of Venezuela when he was 16. The Mariners traded López, along with three other minor-leaguers, to the Marlins for reliever David Phelps ahead of the trade deadline in 2017.

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