The Padres placed a waiver claim on Felipe Lopez and are waiting to see if they will be awarded the claim according to MLB.com's Corey Brock. The Cardinals released the infielder earlier in the week, partly because he was late more than once. Lopez didn't hit particularly well either, posting a .231/.310/.340 line as a utility player in St. Louis.
Some teams might hesitate to add an apparently unmotivated player in the thick of a pennant race, but the Padres are just a half game behind the Giants in the NL West and they need all the support possible, especially now that Jerry Hairston Jr. is on the disabled list again. Lopez played all four infield positions in St. Louis and his versatility could help Bud Black's Padres over the course of the season's final nine games.
Good luck Padres, Hopefully he doesn’t give up on you like he gave up on Cards. The Lopez thing in StL really bothers me because after the Cards signed him, he said that he was extremely happy to be a part of the Cards and that StL was the place he really wanted to be. Then, just like every other team that he has been on, he gave up at the end of the year because the team was out of the playoff race. Lopez is a player with great talent but he needs a major attitude adjustment.
a troubled player will always cause troubles.. it doesn’t matter who he’s playing for. There’s 162 games a year, and no matter how happy he says he is in spring training he’s still going to show his ugly side eventually.
Pretty low risk, any marginal player who can’t hold it together for the last nine games in a pennant race probably is looking at long-term unemployment.
I wonder how many of those 9 games he will be late? I’m gonna go with at least two
good claim for the Padres.
The risk isn’t in how much you pay him – it’s in how much you play him.
I agree with Queef Law. Milton Bradley is an excellent example of that.
Bradley actually wasn’t too bad when he was here (minus the end).
So I guess you’re right.
Hey cardsfan,
Lopez didn’t give up playing for the Brewers last year. Maybe he tired of the self-righteous Cardinal clubhouse and longed for the time when he could untuck his shirt once in a while.
Well, he played with a lot of the same group of Cards in 2008. Why did he re-sign with them if that is the case? Why didn’t the Brewers re-sign him?
Are the brewers still untucking their shirts after a win … or would anybody really know?
Its an upgrade over Everth Cabrera. slightly improves the bench not a big deal either way