With an 11-16 record and trailing the first-place Detroit Tigers by six games in the American League Central standings, the Twins are more likely to sell than buy this summer.

Players on one-year deals like Ty France, Danny Coulombe and Harrison Bader would be the most logical chips to move if Minnesota can’t salvage its season. However, those three Twins probably wouldn’t garner any impact players for Minnesota.

If the Twins want to acquire some top prospects or young major leaguers on the rise, trading Pablo López, 29, is one way to make that happen.

Pablo López has a lot of trade value

Since getting traded to the Twins from the Miami Marlins in the 2022-23 offseason, López has accumulated 8.4 fWAR with a 3.77 ERA, 3.46 FIP and 10.14 K/9 in 401 innings, and he’s under team control through the 2027 season with an annual salary of $21,750,000.

Teams that need a starting pitcher, like the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros and more, would likely be willing to give up some big-name prospects or young major leaguers to acquire López.

Even if the Twins turn their season around, Pablo López could still land on a new team this summer

Even if Minnesota turns things around this season, which is very possible, López still could find himself on a new ballclub soon.

The Twins have more than $425 million in debt on the books, and the Pohlad family is seeking to sell the team for at least $1.7 billion, according to The Athletic.

The Twins didn’t make any significant offseason moves despite their late-season collapse last year, and if it doesn’t look like they’re going to compete this season or next, moving López would be an easy way to shed payroll and add to their strong young core.

And it’s not like the Twins would have a terrible rotation if López were to leave. Yes, he’s the staff’s ace, but Joe Ryan isn’t too far behind, and the rest isn’t too bad either. Bailey Ober is arguably a top-40 starting pitcher in the league, and Simeon Woods Richardson is a solid back-of-the-rotation arm. Chris Paddack has had a couple of solid starts this season as well.

But the big reason (besides shedding payroll) that the Twins would be able to justify moving López is that they have promising young arms in Zebby Matthews, David Festa and Andrew Morris at the Triple-A level.