Right-hander Jorge López has agreed to a minor league deal with the Cubs, according to a report from Will Sammon and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic on X. The righty is expected to report to the club’s Arizona complex, per Sammon and Mooney at The Athletic.
López, 31, was recently released by the Mets after an unusual scene. During a rough outing against the Dodgers, he argued with umpires and was ejected. While leaving the field, he tossed his glove into the crowd and untucked his shirt.
Things took another strange turn after the game. The Puerto Rican-born López spoke with reporters in English without an interpreter present, saying he did not regret his actions. He also said he had not spoken with manager Carlos Mendoza or president of baseball operations David Stearns about the outburst, though this was contradicted by others. There was also some confusion about something else he said to reporters, as some thought he was calling the Mets “the worst —-ing team” in MLB, but later clarified he was actually calling himself the “worst teammate” in the league.
After all of that, some in the baseball world tried to put a spotlight on the challenges López has faced. He has a child with significant medical complications that is currently on a transplant list and waiting for a donor, while the elder López also missed some time last year due to his mental health. Regardless of the explanations, the Mets considered his behavior unacceptable. He was designated for assignment and released, sending him out to free agency and keeping the Mets on the hook for most of his $2MM salary. The Cubs will bring him into the organization, though he has not yet been added to that club’s roster.
López had a stint as one of the better relievers in the league a few years ago, but with more middling results since then. After years as a starter without a lot of success, the Orioles moved him to a bullpen role in 2022 and he found immediate success. He tossed 48 1/3 innings for the O’s that year, allowing just 1.68 earned runs per nine frames. He struck out 27.6% of batters faced, gave out walks at an 8.7% pace and kept 60% of balls in play on the ground.
But he was traded to the Twins at that year’s deadline, with the results falling off from there. From that trade to the present, he has a 5.08 ERA, 18% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 48% ground ball rate. That includes his 3.76 ERA with the Mets this year prior to his release, though his 17.1% strikeout rate and 44.2% ground ball rate this season are still pretty far from his peak.
Though the numbers haven’t been amazing lately, there’s sense in the Cubs bringing him aboard. There’s no harm in taking a look on a minor league deal and López wouldn’t really cost them anything even if added to the roster. They would only have to pay the prorated league minimum for any time López is on the club, with that amount subtracted from what the Mets pay.
The bullpen has been an issue for the Cubs this year, with the relievers having a collective ERA of 4.47, which puts them 24th out of the 30 clubs in the league. Guys like Adbert Alzolay, Yency Almonte, Julian Merryweather and Keegan Thompson are all currently on the injured list. López can give them a boost if he’s able to make any sort of movement towards his previous form.
He has agreed to throw only his hat over the mesh and has asked morel to be the other worst teammate
Morel is a great teammate just a pathetic fielder at 3B.
Totally ok with signing Jorge Lopez, if can earn his way back, much worse dudes on rosters.
You know cubs fans are desperate when they state there totally ok with a Jorge Lopez signing…. Man things must be rough in Chicago
I would have taken Jorge Lopez on the Guardians and our bullpen is solid. Learn baseball, Mustache
And he’s not even that bad at 3rd. Definitely the best option tbe cubs have. You can call up Vasquez but there’s no guarantees he’s gonna start or even play. Morel is pretty solid at 3rd all things considered. He’s had come mishaps but otherwise he’s been pretty good at 3B
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopefully he doesn’t throw his glove in the crowd again lol
Mets are in Wrigley next week, I’ll go and maybe he can throw one to a Met fan instead of a Yankee fan this time.
Dumpster diving Jed. Yes please make the worst bullpen in baseball even worse. Chubs are shooting for the draft lottery with their play the last month. This guy will help that chance improve
At least they can get the top pick and the backwards run white Sox!
It’s a minor league deal….relax
Sadly, another poor, desperate White Sux fan dumpster diving for a comment.
He pitched pretty well with the Mets and then had a couple of bad outings. I thought the Mets handled the situation poorly, and I hope he makes it back to the majors quickly.
Well, obviously this is an underwhelming move towards correcting the direction this team is headed towards. But this team can be described in one word: Mediocre.
However I believe it would be useless to trade promising young talent, to try to win with this group. I don’t want to see them trade the next Isaac Paredes. Or even the next Jeremiah Estrada.
Cubs have above average starting pitching, and 2 hitters that can be considered above average MLB quality Morel and Bellinger. Both of them are the only 2 in the daily lineup that would also start on most ML teams. Also there are a few others close to than level.
I’d try to find a way to get Ian Happ or Seiya, to agree to a trade for a MLB quality 3B. I could see Happ not being totally closed to the idea of heading to either Cincinnati or Pittsburgh. The Reds have an abundance of infielders (not named Candelario).
Suzuki has a higher OPS+ than either of the two mentioned. He is also hands down the Cubs hottest hitter but you wouldn’t know that because you clearly don’t watch the team.
Anyone who was in shock when Barnhart and Hosmer were dropped last year, doesn’t know much about baseball. You seem to be a bitter old man’dras’.
lol you’re an idiot.
You cant trade Suzuki. Him having a ntc doesn’t matter. When he’s healthy he’s good on offense and defense.
For Happ they never should’ve given him a full ntc. Partial maybe but a full no trade clause is asinine by jed.
As usual, blame the careless tabloid reporters for the “upset.”
De De De!
You know what it was all handle wrong by both sides. Hopefully his child finds help to keep living and family gets help handling it. But either way this incident is done and over so we all can move on. No one loses their birthday over it.
Sounds like a perfect fit for the cubs. A guy with mental problems
Maybe the Cubs are getting fans used to the idea of signing pitchers with behavioral problems. If it works, maybe signing you-know-who in the Mexican League is on the table. 😀
I saw a guy wearing a T-shirt that said “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about”. It seems by some of the responses that that apparently includes some of the people here. Isn’t this the age of tolerance, acceptance and second chances and getting people the mental health help they need?
@Oldguy58
The second chances they give are only for those that are part of their cohort or for those that ‘bat’ for their ideology. That is what this ‘age’ is.
If you’ve followed Lopez at all through his career, and listen to interviews and teammates, he’s a good dude. No idea what goes on in between the ears or how much his son occupies him. But if he’s focused and in a short relief role, he’s an asset to a team. Hope he does well in Iowa and gets back to the bigs.
He’s a very humble guy who lost it for a minute, most likely due to massive stress and worry over his son. The O’s turned him around so the talent is there. I hope he makes an impact in CHI.
I’m generally a pretty snarky guy but I feel for Jorge, I can’t imagine the stress of having a kid that sick and awaiting a transplant. I actually admire how seriously he takes his performance amidst all that and wanting to contribute to the team in a positive way. He let his emotions get way ahead of him, we need to give the guy a break. Let’s not let sports overshadow our humanity folks.
After today the Cubs have blown 15 leads…