The Mets have officially designated right-hander Jorge López for assignment, a move that was reported on yesterday. Left-hander Danny Young was recalled to take Lopez’s spot in a corresponding move.
The Mets have been in a rough patch lately, losing three in a row and eight of their last ten, and the frustration seemed to boil over with López yesterday. After allowing a home run to Shohei Ohtani, he was facing Freddie Freeman when a checked swing appeal to third resulted in a call of no swing. López seemingly said something to third base umpire Ramon De Jesus and was ejected. While making his way off the way off the field, he untucked his shirt and tossed his glove into the stands. Video shared on X by SNY.
After the game, López spoke to the media, though there was some confusion about what he said and what he intended. López, a native of Puerto Rico, spoke in English and some believed he called the Mets “the worst team in probably the whole f***ing MLB” while others heard him referring to himself as “the worst teammate” in the league. Later that night, it was reported that López would be designated for assignment.
Today, López seemed unhappy with the way things played out the night before. He posted on his Instagram stories this morning, stating that he was definitely saying “teammate” and sarcastically thanked the media for making the situation worse. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com posted on X this morning that López losing his roster spot had nothing to do with the team/teammate confusion, saying that López “embarrassed the organization with his actions and words, throwing his glove into the stands, lying about meeting with management and offering zero remorse.”
Reporters from López’s previous clubs have come to his defense today, trying to give larger context to the pitcher’s frustrations. Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Sun shared this story from 2022, when López was with the Orioles. The article discusses the recent death of López’s grandfather as well as López’s son Mikael, who has dealt with several autoimmune disorders since he was born and has spent much of his life in the hospital. Dan Hayes of The Athletic shared this story from last summer, when the Twins put López on the injured list for a mental health break. Boomer Esiason addressed the matter on his show today, as relayed by Awful Announcing on X, saying that he had been informed that Mikael is currently waiting for a transplant.
The extra information certainly makes it easier to understand how López reacted the way that he did, but it appears the Mets don’t consider that an acceptable excuse. Some observers have suggested that the Mets could have put López on the IL for mental health reasons, as the Twins did last year, but they have decided to take a different approach and have removed the righty from their roster.
The Mets will now have one week to trade López or pass him through waivers. In the latter scenario, López has the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while holding onto the remainder of his $2MM salary, as a player with more than five years of major league service time.
He has logged 26 1/3 innings with the Mets this year, allowing 3.76 earned runs per nine innings. His 17.1% strikeout rate is subpar but his 9.9% walk rate and 44.2% ground ball rate are both around league average.
He had a breakout seasons as a reliever with the O’s in 2022. After years of fairly middling work as a starter, a move to the bullpen seemed to unlock something in the righty. In 48 1/3 innings with Baltimore, he had a 1.68 ERA, 27.6% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 60% ground ball rate.
He was flipped to the Twins at that year’s deadline but his results have backed up since then. He had a 4.37 ERA with Minnesota after the deal in 2022, then had a 5.95 ERA in 2023, ending up bouncing to the Marlins and Orioles later in the year. The O’s cut him at the end of the year, which freed him up to sign with the Mets.
