Diamondbacks right-hander Yoan Lopez has made a change in his representation, according to reporter Robert Murray (Twitter link). Lopez is now being represented by Wasserman.
Lopez is coming off his first full Major League season, as he posted a 3.41 ERA, 2.47 K/BB rate, and 6.2 K/9 over 60 2/3 innings out of Arizona’s bullpen. While the bottom-line results were solid, there were some notable red flags in Lopez’s performance, namely some of the highest exit velocity and hard-hit ball rates of any pitcher in the sport. With a .370 xwOBA that soared above his .298 wOBA, Lopez seemingly benefited greatly from a .233 BABIP that saw much of opposing batters’ solid contact go for naught. In terms of ERA predictors, Lopez had a 5.03 FIP, 4.47 xFIP, and 4.60 SIERA that all greatly exceeded his 3.41 ERA.
There’s clearly a lot to improve on if Lopez is to continue as a reliable member of the Snakes’ bullpen, though he did display some durability in appearing in 70 games, and he was effective against both left-handed (.723 OPS) and right-handed (.728 OPS) batters. He also averages a blistering 96.3 mph on his fastball.
Lopez might be best known for receiving the highest bonus ever given to an international amateur player at the time of his signing back in January 2015. That $8.27MM bonus single-handedly put the D’Backs over the old international spending limit, thus forcing the club to pay a 100 percent tax on the overage and placing the D’Backs into two years of limitations in the international market. Arizona was limited to signings of $300K or less in two consecutive July 2 signing periods (2015-16 and 2016-17), which was seen as one of the critical errors of the Dave Stewart/Tony La Russa front office.
Some struggles both on and off the field in the minor leagues led to some speculation as to whether Lopez would even reach the Show, though the hard-throwing righty did finally get on track and now has 69 2/3 MLB innings under his belt. He remains under team control through the 2024 season, so Lopez’s move to Wasserman seemingly wasn’t made with a forthcoming trip to the open market in mind.
MLBTR has already noted Lopez’s agency change in our Agency Database. If you see any notable errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
Who is the best Lopez in MLB history?
Javy?
Aquilino?
Davy LOPES?
Albie!
Oh wow that brings back memories of those terrible early 00 Rays [excuse me, DEVIL RAYS] squads. Atrocious uniforms, Esteban Yan. Bryan Rekar, who looked like Bart Simpson. Simpler times.
Jennifer
Hands down Javy Lopez. Solid hitter and good defensive catcher for the 90s’ Braves featuring Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz.
I think it’s Javy Lopez too, but the former Sox/Giant lefty reliever. One of the last LOOGYs, all though he was more than that. Read once he knew the Iliad by heart.
that’s a heck of a talent
Rodrigo.
Lopez led the league in losses in both leagues. Can any other player boast that on their resume?
Javy had some monster seasons, especially for a catcher.
The Lopez that I watched the most was Aurelio Lopez. Nick named Senor Smoke. Went 10-1 with 14 saves during the Tigers 1984 championship season. Sadly he was killed in an auto accident in Mexico(1992).
Willie Hernandez gets so much acclaim, and deservedly so, for that teams success but I feel people gloss over what Lopez meant too.
Felipe!
The actual answer would be Al Lopez as he is the only Lopez in the Hall of Fame.
Touché
Never heard of him. Sounds like a tire salesman from Staten Island
He was a Catcher for the Dodgers (Brooklyn), Braves (Boston), and Pirates from 1928-1947.
LaRussa and Dave Stewart were great coach and player, even championship caliber, but they were the worst front office ever. It’s amazing how Mike Hazen has recovered from their many horrible decisions. If Hazen can bring a championship to AZ, the story must be told about all he had to overcome with the Lopez, Tomas, Greinke, Shelby Miller, etc bad decisions. It’s amazing how quickly Stewart and others made so many bad moves. At least Towers made more good than bad.
Well put. Hazen has performed magic to get out from under all the horrible moves Dave Stewart made.
Big news.
You’re not Penske material.
I thought you’d take the bigger office.
So what percentage does an agent get from your contract?
Works on contingency? No! money down!
I have this vivid image of Yoan’s competitiveness when, after giving up a double to Manny Machado, he snuffed out a rally by striking out the next hitter and then imitated Machado’s gesture and glared at him as he stomped off the field. Yoan can be on my team anytime, doesn’t matter who represents him.
Keep him away from Dansby Swanson
just need to say i love those blue/purple jersies as a throwback. D-Backs have a great uniform arsenal.
The Dave Stewart/Tony LaRussa front office is the closest thing we’ve had to the guys around the board who watch EVERY SINGLE game and think that their opinions are superior.