Pablo López reaffirms his commitment to Twins despite uncertainty

Pablo López has been traded twice in his career, so he understands his name can show up in trade rumors.

And, believe him, he sees all the rumors.

“I have an aunt who she sends me every trade rumor,” he said. “She’ll send me links and she doesn’t know if they’re official or if this is a fake account or a trade proposal from a Twitter account with 20 followers. She’ll send me everything.”

Twins President Derek Falvey announced at baseball’s winter meetings in December, after gaining more payroll clarity from ownership, that the team had no plans of trading López or the team’s other star players.

López said he never felt he was on the verge of being traded, but all veteran players had it in the backs of their minds after last year’s trade deadline teardown.

“The one thing I told the front office,” early in the offseason, López said, “I would like to be a part of this rotation going forward. When we trade for guys like Taj Bradley and Mick Abel, I was like these are really fun guys to be around.”

López, the Twins’ Opening Day starter for the past three years and an All-Star in 2023, is embracing his leadership role. He has always maintained an important role with the team, planning home run celebrations and team-wide off-day activities.

“It goes without saying that we have such a young group,” López said. ”Some direction is going to be needed.”

The Twins have a wave of young pitchers like Bradley, Abel, Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews and David Festa competing for the last spots in the rotation.

“Just to be in the rotation with them where I may have an opportunity to have the slightest impact with the way I go about my business, it can go a long way,” López said. “That was the case when I was a rookie.

“I want to be part of a rotation that can really let people know how far a pitching staff can take a team.”

For the rotation to lead the Twins, López needs to stay healthy. He was limited to 14 starts last year, though he was effective with a 5-4 record and a 2.74 ERA.

”I have hit all my marks,” López said. “Being able to have a normal offseason, which was the biggest reassurance that team doctors and trainers gave me.”

López woke up at 6 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 23, to prepare for his bullpen session at Target Field before TwinsFest activities, so he could remain on his pitching schedule.

“There’s going to be a decent amount of tone-setting from me and a couple of the guys,” López said. “There’s going to be a lot of changes, because we want to turn it up for good. We want to set the standard.”

Twins owner Tom Pohlad met privately with López on Jan. 23, so they could discuss the state of the organization.

Manager Derek Shelton called López the day after he was hired, and there were efforts to meet in Florida. It shows how much Pohlad and Twins will lean on López’s leadership.

López likes what he has seen from the new coaching staff and the latest roster moves. He heard good things about catcher Victor Caratini’s game-calling skills. He’s confident Taylor Rogers will have a strong presence in the bullpen.

Then there is the rotation that he will spearhead.

“This rotation is insane,” López said. “I’ve said it a couple of times, it’s so good that it makes me a little sad that we may have really talented arms starting the season in Class AAA. You hate to see that, but also you can never have enough pitching.