The Reds have outrighted infielder Alejo López after he cleared waivers, reports Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer, with López staying in camp as a non-roster invitee. He was designated for assignment last week when the club acquired outfielder Will Benson from the Guardians.
López, 27 in May, has appeared in each of the past two major league seasons but with little to show for it thus far. In 75 games, he’s hit .262/.307/.321 for a wRC+ of 70, indicating he’s been 30% below league average at the plate. He has at least provided some defensive versatility, spending time at second base, third base and all three outfield positions.
One of his best attributes is that he’s very difficult to strike out. He’s only gone down on strikes in 14.5% of his major league plate appearances thus far and usually at even lower rates in the minors. However, he also doesn’t walk much and provides little power, with only one big league home run in his career and never topping six in the minors.
Since he has never been outrighted before and has less than three years of service time, he doesn’t have the right to reject an outright assignment and will therefore stick with the Reds. He’ll try to earn his way back onto the roster at some point, with the club’s infield mix a little uncertain at the moment. Jonathan India should be at second base with Kevin Newman at short and Spencer Steer at third, with Jose Barrero perhaps in the mix for some playing time as well. López will be jockeying with other non-roster invitees like Richie Martin, Jason Vosler and Matt Reynolds, trying to earn a spot as a bench infielder or utility option.
Glad he’s staying in the organization.
“we say “yo-ho” but we don’t say hoe, because hoe is disrespectful yo!”
Sorry, that key and Peele skit was the first thing to pop in my head. If Alejo gets his OBP up some he could be a decent bench guy for the reds. He’s still young and can play multiple inf spots
Alejo can hit a little, but his defense is lacking. I’m not sure he finds regular playing time even for the Bats.. His best ML opportunities may be in his rearview.
I said he’s a DH waiting to happen a while back. They don’t all have to be power bats despite the hype. He is Versatile and a good bat but everyday defensively, won’t bring the house down.
He’s never DHing as a regular. They NEED to be power hitters, or at least guys who can regularly hit for XB. He’s a singles hitter who doesn’t walk much. Go down, take some HGH, then come back to MLB
I’ll take a guy who makes contact and doesn’t strike out much over a guy who fans half the time and occasionally pops one over the wall any day.
Oakland should have nabbed him. Young lad almost ready to bust out. Very decent bat for someone with not much experience. Just what I thought Oakland would go for
Inexpensive depth piece that can be optioned. May see some action as injuries take their toll.
As other have said, he can actually hit a tiny bit, well enough for a utility man for certain. However, his defensive stats look bad. If he can’t play defense and on,y contributes ,argonal,offensive value you have a replacement level guy.
Yaaaahhhhnnnn! Another Reds move.
Wow, after looking at his nice minor league career and his age, switch hitter, I really didn’t think he would slip by Jerry. I have no idea about his glove work, and I’m assuming it must be poor given his nice offensive track record. From the offensive angle, it looks like kid needs a good hard look. A legit 200 ab audition at least to show us what he can do.
Looks like Cincy timed it to slip Lopez through waivers right before teams can free up roster space via the 60-day IL.
Yes. A very astutely timed DFA
They made a trade and needed to DFA him to make room.
Maybe rather than a shrewd DFA, baseball has changed so drastically that a team cannot afford a 40 man roster spot to a “punch and Judy style “ hitter with a suspect glove. It makes me wonder if “the home run era” has nearly eliminated the opportunity for a “pesky” hitter?
Home runs are grossly overrated especially when the guy strikes out half the time. I’ll take the guy who actually makes contact.
I’ll take “People who don’t know baseball” for $1000, Alex.
I know baseball very well actually.
But then again, I’m not a stat boy only and know how a team is really built and operates.
There’s more to it than just home run stats.
The three outcome guy will soon go the way of the dinosaur with the new rules and the elimination of the shift.
And who do you know that strikes out half the time?
Agree. I liked what I saw of Lopez. He probably could play some OF also. He is probably not a starter but could be a useful piece going forward.
I would rather see a cam collier or one of our other players get the spot and ABs rather than Lopez.
Collier bat looks ready and he can gets ABs while his glove at 3B catches up. The dude can rake!