The Angels have signed infielder Nicky Lopez to a major league deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Earlier, Sam Blum of The Athletic relayed that Lopez has a locker for tonight’s game against the Dodgers. Blum also relayed that left-hander José Quijada does not have a locker, so perhaps he has been removed from the club’s roster. Subsequently, Blum has added that left-hander Angel Perdomo is also without a locker. The 40-man roster count dropped to 39 earlier today with the release of Mickey Moniak. Adding Lopez would bump that back up to 40 but that would drop again if Quijada and/or Perdomo are removed.
Lopez, 30, was in camp with the Cubs on a minor league deal until recently. He was reassigned to minor league camp ahead of that club travelling to Japan for the Tokyo Series. It was reported at that time that he was expected to trigger an opt-out in his deal. He was officially granted his release a few days ago, freeing him up to sign this deal with the Halos.
Broadly speaking, Lopez is a glove-first infielder. He did have one especially strong season at the plate in 2021, though that was largely fuelled by a .347 batting average on balls in play. He has 2,346 big league plate appearances overall with a .248/.312/.314 line and 77 wRC+.
But the defensive profile is strong, with over 2,000 innings at the shortstop position. Defensive Runs Saved has considered him to be roughly average at that spot, before giving him a rough -9 mark last year. Outs Above Average, however, has Lopez at +33 at short in his career. He has also received strong marks for his work at second and third base, with brief showings at first and left field as well.
He was with the White Sox last year and could have been retained for 2025 via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $5.1MM salary. Given his light hitting, the Sox weren’t willing to pay that. He was passed through waivers in November and elected free agency. He later signed a minor league deal with the Cubs, with that pact coming with a modest $1.5MM salary if he made the majors. Presumably, this deal with the Angels comes with a fairly modest salary.
The Angels have plenty of uncertainty throughout their infield. Shortstop Zach Neto is going to start the season on the injured list as he is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Third baseman Anthony Rendon underwent hip surgery last month and has been moved to the 60-day injured list. The Angels signed Yoán Moncada to replace Rendon at third but he’s been battling some thumb soreness in camp and hasn’t played in an official spring game since March 12. Second baseman Luis Rengifo has been dealing with a nagging hamstring injury. He’s been back in the lineup for over a week but is hitting .150/.261/.150 in Cactus League action.
As of now, Kevin Newman seems likely to be the club’s shortstop. Rengifo seems to be healthy enough to play either second or third base. Lopez gives them a glove-first guy who can bounce around. Non-roster invitees like Tim Anderson or J.D. Davis could also factor into the mix if added to the roster.
Perdomo and Quijada are both out-of-options lefty relievers. That means they need to be on the active roster or else removed from the 40-man. Nothing official has been announced but their absences from the clubhouse seem to suggest they won’t be making the club.
Quijada, 29, has generally been able to rack up lots of strikeouts but also plenty of walks in his career. To this point, he has 128 innings under his belt with a 4.64 earned run average. He has punched out 30.3% of opponents but given out free passes at a 14.8% clip. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2023, meaning he didn’t pitch much in the past two years.
He qualified for arbitration for the first time after that 2023 season. But due to the surgery, he was only able to bump his salary to $840K, barely above league minimum. He and the Angels agreed to a deal in January that will see him make $1.075MM this year, with a $3.75MM club option for 2026.
Hypothetically, if he were to be passed through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency as a player with at least three years of service time. However, he has less than five years of service, meaning he would have to give up that money to head to the open market. In that scenario, he would likely stick with the Angels as non-roster depth in order to keep his 2025 salary in place.
Perdomo, 31 in May, was acquired from the Braves in a cash deal about a week ago. He has a 5.55 ERA, 35.8% strikeout rate and 15.8% walk rate in his career. He only has 48 2/3 innings pitched but has almost three years of service time thanks to many injured list stints. He has a previous career outright and would therefore have the right to elect free agency if passed through waivers.
“The Angels have signed infielder Nicky Lopez to a major league debut”
This is gunna be like learning your high school girlfriend wasn’t exactly a virgin.
Nuclear option
Another beloved Brave gets his wings.
Kyren Paris was actually having a great Spring, gonna be bummed if he’s the odd man out.
Paris looked good t his Spring and Mickey did not.
He apparently made the roster
If you have to sign Nicky Lopez a couple days before the season and he makes the opening day roster then your team has serious flaws from the big club all the way through the minor league system. This no stick, some glove kind of player is for emergencies only
The “flaws” are Neto and Moncada being out temporarily and uncertainty around Rengifo. Lopez is the perfect player to fill in in the mean time.
@spooky it’s because the infield is already starting on the dl. People talk about the pitching and trout getting hurt, but forget about the 100 different guys they had in the infield. Is moniak great no but they could’ve kept him and Paris. Without this signing.
I wish the Braves would have kept him over Arcia. Both suck at hitting but I think Lopez is a better fielder and without looking at stats, slightly better hitter. If he gets on base more than Arica, he’s more valuable to this Braves team
I don’t understand the reasoning for this signing.
Losing Quijada is addition by subtraction.
MLB deal no less. Why not a split contract with opt-out date?
Why cut Moniak?
Hasn’t ever really hit, having a bad spring, high strikeout rate, and the Angels have better options with Kyren Paris and Matthew Lugo.
Because he couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat.
Yep u dump the trash players only to pick up more trash this GM is a pice of trash he trying to catch lightning in a bottle that not there pathetic I hate be a angel fan now where the Pittsburgh Pirates other American League West
Angels are tricky. It doesn’t make sense until it maybe does. Paris over Lopez and keep moniak for a month is the same thing.
Signing Lopez to a MLB deal doesn’t make sense to me. I would have offered MiLB deal and if he passes, then fine. No harm. It probably means that Moncada will likely open the season on the DL and maybe cut ties with Tim Anderson?
There is no plan.
Lopez not better than Kingery.
For the two weeks we wait on Neto, we Just shot Paris in the ego, told Newman he’s not good, gave Tim Anderson no reason for hope.
Someone give the front office an organizational psychology textbook. See chapter on building esteem.
@arkadelphia. I agree didn’t really care about the bullpen. The offense is different I would’ve kept it the same until moniak slumped or someone else. When neto,moancada,(maybe rengifo needs a week,) came back. The guys your keeping might not last a couple weeks. Now I’m swallowing words because I’m agreeing with halo11fan. Sometimes you scratch your head with the moves. I could change my mind when the roster is announced but not likely it’s not logical.
Newman is starting while Neto’s out, and Paris and Anderson both also made the team, so everything you said was wrong.
I was hoping the ChiSox brought him back to help out the youngsters.
Not surprised at all. Perry love’s dumpster diving.
Lopez is a perfect signing for this time and place.
Great glove, which is what you need when you have several extreme GB starting pitchers.
He’s OK being a reserve. He bats lefthanded. He’s a veteran.
And….when Moncada and Neto return, you won’t shed a tear if you have to let him go.
Their reliance on replacement-level depth pieces forces them to play these guys every day, which artificially suppresses the team’s offensive output and locks them into a mediocrity loop.
Just watching the opener and It looks like they signed Lopez to be a pitcher as they are bringing him in to pitch.