Veteran infielder Nicky Lopez triggered an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the D-backs, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Teams typically have 48 hours to decide whether to add a player to the 40-man roster or grant him his release when the player triggers an out clause, but Murray adds that Lopez will hit the open market, so it seems Arizona has already made up its mind.
The 30-year-old Lopez hit just .267/.303/.317 through 109 turns at the plate in a supercharged offensive environment with Arizona’s Triple-A Reno affiliate. He continued showing strong contact skills, fanning in only 8.3% of his plate appearances, but Lopez showed no real power and walked at only a 4.6% clip. He went 1-for-24 in 19 games between the Cubs and Angels earlier this year while receiving sparse playing time as a glove-first option off the bench.
Lopez is a defensive-minded utility infielder who can handle either middle infield spot or third base. He’s made a few brief cameos in left field as well but has just 17 major league innings at the position. Back in 2021, he posted an out-of-nowhere .300/.365/.378 batting line with 22 steals (in 23 tries) and plus-plus defense at shortstop. Baseball-Reference valued that season at 4.4 wins above replacement, and FanGraphs credited him with an even gaudier 5.5 WAR. Since that time, Lopez has proven 2021’s offensive output to be an outlier; he’s slashed only .229/.300/.283 in 1215 subsequent plate appearances.
He played as advertised for the White Sox last year, but they turned him loose nevertheless. His apparent replacement is Josh Rojas, but he’s hitting far under .200, his defense at third has been indifferent, and he costs more than Lopez, and he’s a bit older. Apparently the Sox don’t have a prospect to trot out at third base, or, if Vargas goes back to third base where he belongs, they don’t have a prospect to take over first base.
realsox: Don’t worry. Getz will trade Houser, Tauchman, Taylor, whoever, for a big time prospect at 1B 🙂 I don’t understand when he’s got a good player, say, Houser, that he trades him instead of keeping him on a team with crappy pitching. Why not keep guys who are doing well because he’s not gonna get much for what he’s got left.
100 loss season coming. No need to keep players on expiring contracts. Trade for prospects to build farm back up. Tauchman and Houser will get grabbed up by teams headed to the playoffs. Taylor might be an equivalent of Billy Hamilton type player. Playoff teams value those for the 26th man as a pinch runner/ defensive late inning replacement. They should move Houser while his value is at its top – which is now. All have friendly contracts that will allow contenders dancing around the luxury tax to acquire.
@avenger: Some commenters below make good arguments, but I agree with you that, sometimes, GMs ought to be a little old-fashioned and, if a player is doing well, just keep him, regardless of where the team is in the standings and whether his contract is expiring.
At each home game, there is a 7-year-old kid who loves the team and is attending their first game and is excited to be there and wants to see the team win THAT DAY. GMs should think about that kid and how winning that day could make a fan for life. Take the long view, of course–but live in the present too, and remember how fans are made.
I take it you’ve been stuck on the space station the last 25 years, cmon man. Keep a slightly above average player who MIGHT have a little bit of trade value on a roster of a team going nowhere? I promise there’s no unicorn in your garage.
Teams will worry about that 7 year old when he/she starts spending their own money at the stadium.
he’ll be an Astro by the end of the day to bridge while Pena is out
nstale: Lopez is the very definition of a journeyman.
Don’t believe his game translates to the foreign leagues.
Why wouldn’t it. More focus on contact skills than power usually in Asia. It’s just that as foreign player the expectations are different.
Hopefully back to Atlanta…