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Javier Lopez

Odds & Ends: Crawford, Indians, Lopez, Brewers

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A few links to check out after the Rangers picked up their first World Series win in franchise history…

  • Torii Hunter is at the World Series for TV work, though he did mention liking the idea of Carl Crawford in an Angels' uniform according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). Hunter wouldn't confirm if he's been lobbying the soon-to-be free agent outfielder.
  • In a mailbag piece, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer answers questions about the Indians chances of signing quality free agents and whether or not Javier Vazquez is a fit for them.
  • FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal tweets that Giants' lefty reliever Javier Lopez will fall short of qualifying for free agency this offseason by just five days of service time. It's a shame he won't be able to cash in on his dominant postseason (5.2 innings, one hit, one walk, six strikeouts).
  • Rosenthal also says that the Brewers are just doing their due diligence, and are expected to name a manager shortly after the World Series (Twitter link).
  • Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune lists the hurdles the White Sox would have to clear if they want to acquire Colby Rasmus. He also noted that St. Louis had people watching ChiSox prospects at a recent Arizona Fall League game.
  • Chad Jennings of The Journal News provide an offseason to-do list for the Yankees.
  • MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli tweets that the announcement of the Orioles' coaching staff is being held up by Don Wakamatsu. He'll be their bench coach unless he lands a managerial gig elsewhere.
  • Joel Sherman of The New York Post explains what impressed him about Sandy Alderson's introductory press conference yesterday.
  • Meanwhile, Newsday's David Lennon wonders if Alderson's hiring will boost ticket sales (via Twitter). Mets' attendance has dropped from an average of 51,165 fans per game in 2008 to 32,401 in 2010 despite the opening of CitiField last season. Obviously the economy is part of the problem.
  • Jennings also passed along a lengthy quote from Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who explains his desire to make his team younger without sacrificing their ability to be competitive.
  • Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle compares the path the Rangers and Giants took to the World Series to some of the moves the Astros made a few seasons ago.

Odds & Ends: Nady, Orioles, Darvish, Zambrano

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Links for Sunday, as the White Sox complete a weekend sweep in Boston….

Giants Acquire Javier Lopez

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The Giants have acquired lefty reliever Javier Lopez from the Pirates in exchange for John Bowker and Joe Martinez. 

Lopez, 33, has two impressive numbers to his name this year: a 2.79 ERA and a 60.2% groundball rate.  Otherwise he's struck out few and walked many overall.  His splits show that he's somewhat effective against lefties and a poor choice against righties.  He signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh before the season, and is still owed $287K this season. He is under team control as an arbitration-eligible player next year.

Martinez, a 27-year-old righty, posted a 3.32 ERA, 7.2 K/9, and 2.9 BB/9 with six home runs allowed in 81.3 Triple A innings this year.  Baseball America ranked him 30th among Giants prospects heading into the '09 season.  They called him "a groundball machine" with a "sinking 86-88 mph fastball, a true curveball and a plus changeup consistently down in the strike zone."  Martinez has yet to figure things out in his 41 career Major League innings, but he has retained his ability to generate grounders.

Bowker, a 27-year-old outfielder and first baseman, hasn't done much in the Majors aside from a less-than-terrible '08 rookie season.  He has managed to rake in the Pacific Coast League after multiple stints there, for what it's worth.  Baseball America ranked him ninth among Giants prospects before the '08 season, saying "he has strong hands and can hit good fastballs."

Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweeted that Lopez was on the verge of being dealt while Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News later confirmed the deal and added details (all Twitter links). 

Mike Axisa contributed to this post. 

Lefty Reliever Rumors

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Scott Downs, Will Ohman, Javier Lopez, Craig Breslow, George Sherrill, Doug Slaten, Brian Tallet, Mark Hendrickson, and Bruce Chen make up most of the trade market for left-handed relievers.  Today's rumors…

  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that he feels the Giants, Phillies, Red Sox, Twins, and Rays could use a left-handed reliever.
  • Morosi tweets that the Pirates are getting calls on Lopez, who is affordable now and under team control for 2011.  Lopez has surrendered too many walks to both lefties and righties, but his groundball rate is 59.6% and he's whiffed southpaws at a strong rate.
  • The Indians are getting hits on Rafael Perez, tweets Morosi's colleague Ken Rosenthal, but they aren't motivated to trade him.  Perez is technically under team control through 2013.  With a 5.6 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9, Perez's best asset is his 57.4% groundball rate – much like Lopez.

Top Trade Chips: NL Central

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Let's continue our series looking at each team's top trade chips with the NL Central…

  • Astros: Teams can ask for Hunter Pence, but it's just not happening. 26-year-old catcher J.R. Towles and his five years of team control could be shopped with top prospect Jason Castro coming up behind him. If Houston falls way out of it, Roy Oswalt could be made available, but it would be a massive PR hit. He's owed $31MM through 2011 with a $16MM option ($2MM buyout) for 2012, and would have to approve any trade. Dealing him would signify the start of a full rebuilding effort. 
  • Brewers: Yovani Gallardo was never going to be moved in the first place, but his new contract extension all but guarantees it. Manny Parra seems to have fallen out of favor, but a lefty who can dial it up to the mid-90's will always have value on the trade market. He still has three years of arbitration eligibility ahead of him. 
  • Cardinals: The Cards dealt away most of their top prospects for Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa last year, so there's not much left to move. Triple-A catcher Bryan Anderson and Double-A outfielder Daryl Jones could be used in a trade since the big league team is pretty well set at those positions. Jones is more highly regarded of the two. Colby Rasmus is untouchable, obviously.
  • Cubs: Josh Vitters, the third overall pick in 2007, watched his name pop up in trade rumors involving Jake Peavy last year. If Chicago is willing to eat some of the $26.5MM left on his contract, there would be interest in Kosuke Fukudome.
  • Pirates: Neal Huntington has completely turned over the team's roster since taking over in September 2007, dealing away every notable veteran player. He did, however, build up a nice inventory of veteran relievers this offseason. Octavio Dotel, D.J. Carrasco, Brendan Donnelly, and Javier Lopez could all be used as trade fodder this summer.
  • Reds: Cincinnati is clearly a team on the rise, but one young player they could make available is the blocked Yonder Alonso. The power hitting first baseman masquerading as a left fielder in Double-A has all six years of team control left, and is the best trade chip in the division.

Pirates Sign Javier Lopez

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The Pirates signed left-hander Javier Lopez, as first noted by a team press release on December 18th.  Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the deal is worth $775K with another $550K in appearance-based performance bonuses.

Lopez struggled through 14 appearances with the Red Sox last year, but enjoyed prior success in Boston. The 32-year-old pitched to a 2.70 ERA from 2006-08, allowing fewer hits than innings pitched. That ERA may be a little deceptive, given his strikeout rate (5.8 K/9) and walk rate (4.2 BB/9) during the three-year period, but Lopez does have major league success to build on in Pittsburgh. 

Kovacevic notes that Lopez is the only lefty reliever on the Pirates' 40-man roster.  Talking to Lopez, Kovacevic learned that part of the appeal of Pittsburgh was the opportunity to pitch to both righties and lefties and possibly toss multiple innings per appearance.

Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.

Javier Lopez Clears Waivers

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According to Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal, Javier Lopez has cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Pawtucket.  The left-hander was DFA'd last week in order to clear roster space for Daniel Bard.  Lopez, who had posted a 9.26 ERA through 11 2/3 innings in the bigs, hopes to work his way back to Boston this season.

"It's a long season and it's early," Lopez said Saturday. "Things didn't work out the way I wanted them to up there.  It's a special club and if you're not getting the job done they're going to get people up there [who can].  It's not a division you can really slack off in, so that's all the motivation I need."

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