Twins acquire starting pitcher Tyler Mahle in trade with Reds

The Cincinnati Reds continued their rebuild Tuesday by trading starting pitcher Tyler Mahle to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for a trio of prospects.

The deal will send infielder Spencer Steer, pitcher Steve Hajjar and infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand to the Reds. They were the Twins' seventh, 18th and 23rd ranked prospects, via MLB.com. Last week, Cincinnati acquired three of the Seattle Mariners' top five prospects in a deal for All-Star pitcher Luis Castillo.

Mahle, 27, made his MLB debut in 2017 and finished last season with a 13-6 record and 3.75 ERA. His numbers have tailed off in 2022 with a 5-7 record and 4.40 ERA.

The Twins are hoping he'll bolster a rotation that has the team 15th in runs allowed this season. Minnesota is atop the AL Central with a one-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians but optioned starter Devin Smeltzer down to Triple-A in July. The team currently has four starters — Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack, Kenta Maeda and Randy Dobnak — on the 60-day injured list.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Twins added All-Star closer Jorge López in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles.

Cincinnati is currently 41-61 and fourth place in the NL Central.