Infielder Nicky Lopez went unclaimed on outright waivers after being designated for assignment by the Cubs, per the transaction log at MLB.com. Chicago sent him outright to Triple-A Iowa, but Lopez has instead elected free agency. He can now sign with any team.
The 30-year-old Lopez is a versatile, glove-first utility player who’s seen considerable time at shortstop, second base and third base in his professional career. He grades as a plus defender at second base and third base, in particular, and is a roughly average runner by measure of Statcast’s sprint speed metric.
Lopez had a nice season at the plate with the 2021 Royals when he hit .300/.365/.378 in 565 plate appearances, but that’s been a clear outlier in an otherwise lackluster career with the bat. Since that time, the 2016 fifth-rounder (Royals) has mustered a meager .229/.300/.283 batting line (66 wRC+, or 34% worse than league-average offensive output). He’s played a combined 19 games between the Cubs and Angels this season but produced just one hit in 24 at-bats. He’s only struck out four times and has also drawn four walks.
Lopez isn’t going to return to that 2021 peak, but he can plausibly be expected to provide more with the bat than he’s managed in 2025’s small sample thus far. A team looking for some depth at any of the three infield positions left of first base — particularly some defensive-minded help — figures to give him a look before long.
The Cubs scooped him up on a major league deal and plugged him right onto the big league roster last time he was a free agent. It’s possible another team will do the same in the coming days, but signed a minor league deal in the offseason and could need to bide his time in Triple-A with whatever club takes a flier on him next. In 91 career games at the top minor league level, he’s a .304/.399/.444 hitter with more walks (50) than strikeouts (35) through 407 plate appearances.
Brewers should sign him. Couldn’t be any worse than Ortiz or Durbin
Dude couldn’t stick with the White Sox the worst team in history. Still think that? In lighter news Cubs re signed Reece McGuire so the 3rd C problem is solved once again! Happy days!
The Rockies have entered the chat
Sorry. Should have added ” So far”. My Bad.
Lopez elected free agency? Who in the world would name their kid free agency, and why does it matter if he voted for him?
Well you know how expensive kids are. Might as well sell the naming rights if you can.
Rather be a drifter than settle for that nonsense in Iowa. Good on him. Naperville not a bad hang for the Sumner. Softball and Italian Beef
Nicky has done some very positive charity events around the Chicago area. Everything I hear about him says he’s a solid person both on and off the field. I wish him the best. But realistically, now at age 30,as lower level hitter, not sure there’s an MLB future. Decent glove, base runner and some versatility. Maybe some team gives him another shot.