Sports
The Minnesota Twins Should've Traded Pablo Lopez Last Year
The Minnesota Twins have been among the unluckiest teams in baseball for most of the 21st century. More recently, they’ve assembled one of the better rosters in the American League, but it hasn’t led to much success in the postseason. They haven’t made it out of the ALDS since 2002, and with how their roster continued to fall apart at the worst times, they decided to close their window of contention at the trade deadline last season.
Minnesota blew up their roster, trading 10 players at the deadline, including Carlos Correa, Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and many other important pieces. They got some decent pieces back in these trades, but they made many of these moves to shed salary.
The way they tore things down never made much sense. They gutted their roster but kept their three most valuable trade assets, which will never be valuable pieces on a contender in Minnesota.
Byron Buxton is coming off one of the healthiest years in his career, but at age 32, how much time does he have before his play begins to suffer after dealing with as many injuries as he has? Buxton is signed to a relatively team-friendly deal, but only through 2028. I don’t see Minnesota as a serious contender over the next three years, so holding on to him only keeps this team from truly bottoming out and landing a top draft pick.
The move that really never made sense for the Twins was holding on to Pablo Lopez. Of course, it’s easier for me to say this after seeing that he will miss all of 2026 with a torn UCL Ligament, but even at the time, it never made sense to hold on to him.
The Twins were looking to shed money at the deadline, and Lopez was making $21.5 million. Not only that, but the last deadline was a complete seller’s market for pitchers. Even with a questionable bill of health for Lopez, he could’ve gotten a massive return for Minnesota.
Again, hindsight is 20/20, and nobody expected him to miss this entire season, but not cashing in on him after you had already traded 10 other players is organizational malpractice. It’s not like the Twins were even close to a playoff spot. Things really got worse down the stretch, but they still lost 92 games last year; it was simply not a good baseball team.
It might be a long few years for Twins fans. Detroit has one of the best rotations in baseball and multiple top prospects on the way. Kansas City has Bobby Whitt Jr. and a young core looking to compete.
Then there’s always Cleveland who manages to break the Twins’ hearts year after year. Get ready for some rough times in the Twin Cities.
Sports
Nikola Jokic's triple-double extends Nuggets' series with Wolves
Apr 27, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Spencer Jones (21) drives to the net against Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) and guard Ayo Dosunmu (13) as forward Cameron Johnson (23) and guard Jamal Murray (27) and guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (1) defend in the first quarter during game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images Nikola Jokic recorded 27 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds as the host Denver Nuggets stayed alive with a 125-113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of a first-round Western Conference playoff series on Monday.
Jamal Murray scored 24 points, Spencer Jones posted a playoff career-high 20 points and Cameron Johnson finished with 18 for third-seeded Denver, which had lost three straight following a Game 1 home victory.
Game 6 in the best-of-seven series is Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Both teams had key players missing Monday night. Anthony Edwards (knee) and Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) were out for the sixth-seeded Timberwolves, and Ayo Dosunmu and Mike Conley started in their absences.
Dosunmu had 18 points after pouring in 43 on Saturday the Timberwolves’ Game 4 victory.
Julius Randle led Minnesota with 27 points and nine rebounds. Bones Hyland and Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 15 apiece. Jaden McDaniels, loudly booed whenever he possessed the ball, added 13 points, and Naz Reid contributed 12 points for the Timberwolves, who committed 25 turnovers.
Jones made his second career playoff start in place of Aaron Gordon (calf).
The Nuggets built a 10-point lead in the first quarter, but Minnesota cut it to 34-33 early in the second. Denver closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 60-51 lead into intermission, and then quickly expanded the advantage early in the third.
After the score was 63-54, Jones hit a trio of 3-pointers and a running dunk that made it 78-59 midway through the frame. The Timberwolves got within 82-67, but Murray and Tim Hardaway Jr. converted three-point plays, Johnson hit from deep and Christian Braun dunked to make it 95-72.
It was 106-84 before Minnesota made a push. Randle hit a hook shot, Dosunmu had a steal and a layup and Hyland made a layup to cut the gap to 13. After Jokic sank two free throws, Randle converted a three-point play and Reid’s jumper got the Timberwolves within 10.
Braun drained a trey, Murray dunked and Jokic had a layup that resulted in a three-point play, making it an 18-point game with 3:33 to go, and Denver closed it out.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Knights pull level with Mammoth on Shea Theodore's OT goal
Apr 27, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) shoots and scores against Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70), center Alexander Kerfoot (15) and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar (52) during the first period in game four of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Shea Theodore scored with 52 seconds remaining in overtime, giving the Vegas Golden Knights a 5-4 win over the Utah Mammoth in Game 4 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Monday in Salt Lake City.
The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, as the Knights rebounded after losing the previous two games and squandering a 3-0 lead on Monday to fall behind 4-3. Game 5 is set for Wednesday in Las Vegas.
As double overtime approached, a broken play in front of the Utah net left goalie Karel Vejmelka without a stick. The puck was quickly moved in front to Theodore, and the defenseman buried the shot for the first playoff OT goal in his 11 NHL seasons.
Brett Howden had two goals and an assist for Vegas, and Jack Eichel had three assists. Noah Hanifin had two assists, and Cole Smith and Pavel Dorofeyev scored the other Vegas goals.
Carter Hart stopped 27 of 31 shots to earn his second win of the playoffs.
Mikhail Sergachev had three assists for the Mammoth, and Nick Schmaltz had a goal and an assist. Clayton Keller, Ian Cole and Michael Carcone contributed Utah’s other goals.
Vejmelka stopped 31 of 36 shots.
Dorfeyev and Howden bookended the first period with their first goals of the playoffs, beginning with Dorfeyev’s tally just 1:12 into the game. During a Mammoth power play at the 18:38 mark, a Mitch Marner takeaway set up Howden for the short-handed goal.
At 3:26 of the second period, Smith slickly redirected Hanifin’s point shot to give Vegas a 3-0 lead.
Just when the Golden Knights seemed to be in full command, the Mammoth responded with two goals in 29 seconds.
Schmaltz started the comeback at the 8:04 mark of the middle frame by converting his own rebound. Cole then added the quick follow-up with a long-range shot that deflected off the post and into the Knights’ net.
Carcone scored the equalizer on a one-timer from the right circle 1:45 into the third period, and Keller gave Utah its first lead on a deflected goal 5:10 into the third frame. It was then the Knights’ turn to equalize on a Howden tip-in at the 10:25 mark.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kyle Tucker's walkoff single caps Dodgers' rally past Marlins
Apr 27, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Miami Marlins third baseman Connor Norby (1) hits a single against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Kyle Tucker delivered a game-ending two-run single in the bottom of the ninth as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 5-4 victory over the visiting Miami Marlins on Monday to open a three-game series.
Shohei Ohtani added a run-scoring ground-rule double in the ninth and scored the game-winning run as the Dodgers won their third consecutive game and six of their last seven home contests.
Teoscar Hernandez had a two-run single and four Los Angeles relievers held Miami scoreless over the final four innings. Jake Eder (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the win.
Liam Hicks hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning for the Marlins while right-hander Pete Fairbanks (0-2) was charged with three runs in the ninth, while departing with an injury. Jakob Marsee had two hits for Miami.
The Dodgers opened the ninth inning with consecutive walks from Andy Pages and Dalton Rushing against Fairbanks. Miguel Rojas popped up a bunt attempt before Ohtani delivered an RBI ground-rule double to right to pull Los Angeles within 4-3.
After an intentional walk to Freddie Freeman loaded the bases, Fairbanks departed. Right-hander Tyler Phillips struck out Will Smith before Tucker hit an 0-1 splitter into center field for the game-winning runs.
Los Angeles got off to a fast start when Ohtani and Freeman opened the bottom of the first inning with consecutive singles. Hernandez came through with a two-out two-run single for the early lead.
The Marlins cut the deficit in half in the fourth inning when Dodgers shortstop Hyeseong Kim committed an error on a ground ball from Javier Sanoja that allowed Otto Lopez to score.
After Yamamoto walked both Marsee and Xavier Edwards in the fifth, Hicks hit a two-strike splitter for a three-run home run down the right-field line for a 4-2 lead.
The Dodgers threatened in the seventh by loading the bases with two outs against left-hander Andrew Nardi before Smith grounded out to second base to end the inning.
Ohtani had three hits for his second consecutive game after collecting just three total hits over his previous six contests.
–Field Level Media
Nikola Jokic's triple-double extends Nuggets' series with Wolves
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