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Yoan Lopez

Marlins Release Monte Harrison

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TODAY: The Marlins have released Harrison, according to MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola (Twitter link).

MARCH 24: Harrison has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, the team informed reporters (including Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald). He’ll remain in the organization without requiring a 40-man roster spot.

MARCH 18: The Marlins announced a trio of roster moves Friday, designating outfielder Monte Harrison for assignment, claiming righty Yoan Lopez off waivers from the Phillies, and signing veteran outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. to a minor league contract.

Harrison, a second-round pick in 2014 and former top-100 prospect, was one of the key pieces sent from Milwaukee to Miami in the Christian Yelich blockbuster. The 26-year-old appeared in just 40 games with the Marlins over the course of his time in the organization, batting .175/.230/.263 in a tiny sample of 62 plate appearances. Of course, Harrison also never really forced his way onto the big league roster with standout performances in the minors, either. He logged a .715 OPS in an admittedly pitcher-friendly Double-A setting in 2018 — his first in the Marlins organization — and wasn’t able to push that OPS even as high as .800 in any of the three years he spent in the system.

Harrison did post a .242/.331/.446 batting line that checked in slightly above league-average production in Triple-A last year (108 wRC+), but he did so with a staggering 39.3% strikeout rate that surely didn’t give the team any confidence he was beginning to turn a corner. Now out of minor league options and squarely behind Avisail Garcia, Jesus Sanchez, Bryan De La Cruz and others on the outfield depth chart, Harrison finds himself jettisoned from the 40-man roster. The Marlins will have a week to trade Harrison, place him on outright waivers, or release him. The latter of those three scenarios seems highly unlikely; Harrison will either be traded/claimed by another club, or he’ll pass through outright waivers unclaimed and remain in the Marlins organization.

Taking Harrison’s spot on the 40-man roster, at least for now, is the 29-year-old Lopez — a former high-profile Diamondbacks signing out of Cuba. He’s spent parts of four seasons in the big leagues but, after a decent start with Arizona, has seen his numbers tank in recent years. Lopez throws hard (96.2 mph average fastball in his career) and has better-than-average marks in terms of walk rate (7.7%) and ground-ball rate (46.8%).

That said, Lopez’s 19.1% strikeout rate is well shy of the MLB average, particularly among relievers, and he’s been overwhelmingly homer-prone. In 101 2/3 innings at the MLB level, he has a 4.25 ERA but a sky-high 1.77 HR/9. Lopez’s four-seamer has above-average velocity but bottom-of-the-scale spin rate, which has allowed hitters to square it up with regularity. On 251 occasions, Lopez has finished a big league plate appearance by throwing a fastball, and opponents have posted a .280/.333/.511 batting line in those instances. Lopez’s career 5.3% swinging-strike rate on his four-seamer is one of the lower marks you’ll come across.

As for the veteran DeShields, he’ll replenish some of the center-field depth lost by designating Harrison for assignment but do so without requiring a 40-man roster spot. The 29-year-old is a generally known commodity know, having logged big league time in each of the past seven seasons (including three years as the primary center fielder in Texas). DeShields has never shown much in the way of power but has well above-average speed and is capable of playing all three outfield spots. He’s a lifetime .247/.326/.342 hitter in 2114 trips to the plate at the MLB level.

Phillies Designate Yoan Lopez For Assignment

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The Phillies announced today that they have designated right-hander Yoan Lopez for assignment. The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster for outfielder Odubel Herrera, whose signing is now official. Another move will be required for the signing of Kyle Schwarber, once that becomes official.

After Lopez defected from Cuba in 2014, the Diamondbacks signed him and gave him a bonus of $8.27MM. The club went over their international bonus allotment to do so, which was allowed under the CBA at that time. However, the penalty for doing so was that they were then prohibited from giving a bonus larger than $300K for the next two international signing periods.

Unfortunately, Lopez never really justified that aggressiveness. After a couple of years of mediocre results as a starter in the minors, Arizona moved him to a relief role. He made it to the majors in 2018 and threw out of the club’s bullpen over the next few years, making 113 appearances in that time, logging a total of 101 2/3 innings with a 4.25 ERA, 19.1% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate.

After being designated for assignment in May of last year, Lopez was claimed by the Braves and spent the rest of the year with their Triple-A club. He threw 32 2/3 innings there with a 26.7% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate, finishing with an ERA of 3.03. Despite those encouraging results, Atlanta designated him for assignment when they acquired Jay Jackson in November, with the Phillies claiming him off waivers at that time. That makes this the third DFA in less than a year for Lopez. With the promise he showed in Triple-A, it seems likely he will be claimed again. He has just over two years of MLB service time and still can be optioned to the minors, meaning a team could take a chance on the 29-year-old and improve their bullpen depth.

Phillies Claim Yoan Lopez, Designate Roman Quinn

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The Phillies announced Monday that they’ve claimed righty Yoan Lopez off waivers from the Braves and cleared a roster spot by designating outfielder Roman Quinn for assignment.

The 28-year-old Lopez had a solid run with the Braves’ top affiliate, Triple-A Gwinnett, tallying 32 2/3 innings of 3.03 ERA ball with a 26.7% strikeout rate and an 8.4% walk rate in that time. Atlanta never gave him a look in the Majors after acquiring him in a small, late-May swap with the D-backs, however, and Lopez was designated for assignment when the Braves picked up righty Jay Jackson from the Giants last week.

Once a high-profile international signing by the D-backs, Lopez has only tallied 101 2/3 innings in the big leagues to this point. He carries a 4.25 ERA with a solid 7.7% walk rate but a below-average 19.1% strikeout rate. He has a pair of minor league options remaining and will give the Phillies some bullpen depth if he survives the offseason on their 40-man roster.

Quinn, 28, long ranked as one of the better prospects in the Phillies’ system, but the speedster has been oft-injured and, to this point, generally unproductive at the MLB level. The fleet-footed switch-hitter batted just .173/.306/.288 in 62 MLB plate appearances this past season and owns a .228/.306/.355 batting line through 512 trips to the plate at the game’s top level.

To his credit, Quinn has swiped 39 bases in just 178 MLB games and has drawn solid defensive ratings across all three outfield positions. He’s also compiled a solid .286/.351/.407 batting line in Triple-A. However, Quinn is out of minor league options as well, and he’d been projected to receive a modest bump to $700K in arbitration. The dollar amount surely wasn’t of concern to the Phillies so much as the fact that Quinn simply wasn’t viewed as part of the outfield puzzle moving forward.

The Phillies are known to be in the market for center field upgrades, having previously been tied to Starling Marte (now with the division-rival Mets) and Byron Buxton (who signed a seven-year extension and received a full no-trade clause from the Twins). Presumably, the Phils will continue to explore alternative options in the outfield, eyeing at least a new center fielder if not a pair of outfielders to pair with reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper.

Braves Acquire Jay Jackson, Designate Yoan Lopez

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The Giants have traded right-handed reliever Jay Jackson to the Braves in exchange for cash or a player to be named later, per a pair of team announcements. San Francisco designated Jackson for assignment on Friday while setting their 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 protection deadline. Fellow right-hander Yoan Lopez was designated for assignment in a corresponding move, per the Braves.

Jackson, 34, has found new life in the big leagues after a strong four-year run with the Hiroshima Carp in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He’s been with the Brewers and the Giants since returning, most recently pitching to a 3.74 ERA with an impressive 31.3% strikeout rate in 21 1/3 innings for San Francisco last season. Jackson also averaged 94.8 mph on his heater, pairing that with a sizable 13.3% swinging-strike rate. Those numbers are impressive, to be sure, but Jackson has also struggled with his command at times, walking 13.5% of his opponents since his return from NPB.

Command issues notwithstanding, Jackson makes for a solid, low-cost pickup for the reigning World Series champs. In addition to a good run with the Giants’ big league club last year, he also posted a 1.29 ERA with a gaudy 24-to-1 K/BB ratio in 14 Triple-A frames in 2021. And, despite the fact that he’s 34 years old, Jackson still has a minor league option remaining, so he can give the Braves a good bit of flexibility in the bullpen.

The 28-year-old Lopez was traded from Arizona to Atlanta in a late-May deal that sent minor league outfielder Deivi Estrada to Arizona. Lopez had a solid run in Triple-A Gwinnett, tallying 32 2/3 innings of 3.03 ERA ball with a 26.7% strikeout rate and an 8.4% walk rate in that time.

Once a high-profile international signing by the D-backs, Lopez has only tallied 101 2/3 innings in the big leagues to this point. He carries a 4.25 ERA with a solid 7.7% walk rate but a below-average 19.1% strikeout rate. The Braves will have a week to trade Lopez, place him on outright waivers or release him.

Braves Acquire Yoan Lopez From Diamondbacks

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The Braves announced they’ve acquired reliever Yoan López from the Diamondbacks. Outfield prospect Deivi Estrada has been sent to Arizona in return. Atlanta optioned López to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Arizona designated López for assignment earlier this week to clear 40-man roster space for the selection of Josh Reddick. The righty has gotten off to a difficult start to the year, pitching to a 6.57 ERA over 12 1/3 innings. That’s his second straight season of poor run prevention, as López only managed a 5.95 mark across 19 2/3 frames in 2020.

Those struggles led the D-Backs to move on from the 28-year-old, ending his six-year tenure in the organization. The previous front office regime signed López to an $8.27MM bonus as an amateur coming out of Cuba in January 2015. Under the terms of the previous collective bargaining agreement, the López signing barred the Diamondbacks from signing any other international amateur prospects for greater than a $300K bonus during either of the 2015-16 or 2016-17 international signing periods.

That decision proved to be one the organization would regret, as López never lived up to those lofty standards. He wasn’t completely unproductive in Arizona, though. López tossed 60 2/3 innings of 3.41 ERA ball in 2019, proving to be one of the D-Backs more reliable relievers that season. While he’s struggled to keep runs off the board the past two seasons, he has at least shown some flashes of promise.

López is inducing ground balls at a decent 45.2% rate, and he’s seen a slight uptick in swings and misses this year. His 21.3% strikeout rate is a career best (albeit still three percentage points worse than average for a reliever), excluding a 2018 season in which he only pitched nine innings. More impressively, López has generated whiffs on 12.7% of his pitches, a mark that’s slightly better than league average. He also brings a power arm to Atlanta, sitting 95.7 MPH on his heater.

Perhaps most appealing for the Braves is López’s contractual flexibility. He still has all three minor league option years remaining, so the front office can shuttle him back-and-forth between Atlanta and Gwinnett as they see fit for the next few seasons, so long as he sticks on the 40-man roster. As a player with 2.011 years of MLB service, he’s only making slightly more than the league minimum salary this year.

In return, the Diamondbacks will pick up a low-level developmental flyer. Estrada, 20, didn’t advance past the Dominican Summer League in the Atlanta organization. He hit .307/.433/.366 with more walks than strikeouts in 255 plate appearances at that level in 2019, playing mostly center field. Estrada has never been included on a Braves system ranking at Baseball America or FanGraphs.

Diamondbacks Select Josh Reddick, Designate Yoan Lopez

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The Diamondbacks announced they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Josh Reddick. To create active and 40-man roster space, the team designated reliever Yoan López for assignment.

Reddick, 34, will now appear in the majors for the thirteenth consecutive season. Signed by the Astros to a four-year, $52MM free agent contract during the 2016-17 offseason, Reddick made an immediate impact on Houston’s 2017 World Series club. The veteran hit a very strong .314/.363/.484 across 540 plate appearances that year. He remained the Astros primary right fielder over the next three seasons, although he never again found the same level of productivity. Between 2018-20, the left-handed hitter slashed .258/.318/.400.

Once an elite corner outfielder, Reddick saw his defensive metrics go in the wrong direction in 2020. Each of Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) and Statcast’s Outs Above Average (OAA) agreed he had a difficult time tracking down fly balls last season. DRS rated Reddick as three runs worse than the average right fielder, while UZR pegged him at eight runs below average. Statcast, meanwhile, estimated Reddick got to five fewer plays than expected, placing him in the second percentile among outfielders league wide.

Advanced defensive metrics are shaky in small samples and Reddick rated highly as a defender as recently as 2019, so it’s possible the former Gold Glover can rebound somewhat in the grass. Still, Reddick’s sprint speeds have dropped as he’s gotten into his mid-30’s, so his peak is almost certainly behind him. Arizona is without expected starting right fielder Kole Calhoun due to hamstring surgery, though, so Reddick should add a capable bat to the corner outfield mix. He hit .245/.316/.378 with the Astros last year, albeit with a concerning uptick in strikeouts.

Reddick signed a minors deal with Arizona last month and got off to a solid start with Triple-A Reno, slashing .304/.365/.478 in 52 plate appearances. By making the MLB roster, he’ll lock in a prorated portion of a $750K salary.

López’s designation could close the book on an up-and-down tenure in Phoenix. A high-profile international amateur signee, he struggled as a starter in the minors but showed some promise after a bullpen transfer. The hard-throwing righty tossed 60 2/3 innings of 3.41 ERA ball in 2019, albeit with less inspiring peripherals. López has been rather home run and walk prone over the last two seasons, resulting in a ghastly 6.19 ERA in 32 combined frames.

To his credit, López is actually generating strikeouts and whiffs at a career-best mark so far this season. He still averages a strong 95.9 MPH on his heater. The 28-year-old also has all three minor league option years remaining, meaning any club that acquires could shuttle him back and forth between the majors and Triple-A over the next few years. Given López’s prospect pedigree, arm strength and roster flexibility, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another club take a flyer on him in the coming days. The D-Backs will have a week to trade him or expose him to the waiver wire.

Diamondbacks Place Kelly, Bukauskas, Devenski On Injured List

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MAY 16: “All options,” including surgery, are a possibility for Devenski, Lovullo said this afternoon (via Zach Buchanan of the Athletic).

MAY 15, 7:05PM: Right-hander Chris Devenski has also been sidelined, as the D’Backs announced that Devenski is headed to the 60-day injured list due to a sprained right UCL.  Left-hander Joe Mantiply’s contract has been selected from Triple-A to take Devenski’s place on both the active roster and 40-man roster.

MAY 15, 6:49PM: Both Kelly and manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jake Rill) that they’re hopeful Kelly will be able to return shortly after his 10-day minimum absence.

MAY 15, 5:48PM: The Diamondbacks announced that catcher Carson Kelly and righty J.B. Bukauskas have been placed on the 10-day injured list.  Kelly is suffering from a tuft fracture in his big left toe, while Bukauskas has a right elbow flexor strain.  In corresponding moves, right-hander Yoan Lopez was called up from Triple-A and infielder Domingo Leyba’s contract was selected from Triple-A.  To create a 40-man roster spot for Leyba, Kole Calhoun was moved to the 60-day IL.

It’s another damaging injury blow to an Arizona team that has placed Zac Gallen, Christian Walker, and Asdrubal Cabrera on the IL just in the last few days, and the D’Backs have already been without Calhoun and Ketel Marte for the majority of the season.

Kelly’s loss is particularly tough, as the catcher has hit a scorching .338/.491/.613 over his first 110 plate appearances of the season.  While Kelly has enjoyed some BABIP luck (.344) and isn’t posting memorable hard-hit ball numbers, he is also doing an outstanding job at getting on base and making contact.  Kelly’s .491 OBP leads the National League, and he has more walks (23) than strikeouts (16).

Depending on the severity of the fracture, Kelly’s absence could either be relatively short or rather lengthy.  Stephen Vogt could now assume starting catching duties with Kelly out, or the D’Backs could explore giving top prospect Daulton Varsho more of a look behind the plate.  Since making his MLB debut last season, Varsho has made 11 total appearances at catcher, but he has only played the position once in 2021.  Given Varsho’s ability to play the outfield, the Diamondbacks could more or less split his playing time between catcher and outfield whenever Vogt needs a break.

Bukauskas made his Major League debut this season, and has posted an 8.31 ERA out of Arizona’s bullpen over his first 8 2/3 innings in the Show.  While the righty has given up a lot of hard contact, his ERA isn’t quite indicative of how he has pitched — Bukauskas has a much more respectable 3.64 SIERA, as he has been hampered by an abnormally low 54.8% strand rate and an abnormally high .433 BABIP.  Bukauskas the 15th overall pick of the 2017 draft, and was sent to the D’Backs from the Astros as part of the Zack Grienke trade in 2019.

Leyba was also a trade pickup for Arizona, coming to the organization from the Tigers along with Robbie Ray as part of the three-team trade in 2014 that saw Shane Greene go to Detroit and Didi Gregorius to the Yankees.  Leyba made a solid accounting of him by hitting .280/.367/.440 in 30 PA during his 2019 rookie season, but missed all of 2020 due to an 80-game PED suspension.

Leyba has plenty of experience as a shortstop, second baseman, and third baseman, so he represents a versatile asset for the Diamondbacks as they figure out how to juggle their roster amidst all these injuries.  Speculatively, Leyba could provide infield depth if Josh Rojas sees more time in the outfield on account of Varsho getting more catching starts.

Yoan Lopez Switches Agencies

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Diamondbacks right-hander Yoan Lopez has made a change in his representation, according to reporter Robert Murray (Twitter link).  Lopez is now being represented by Wasserman.

Lopez is coming off his first full Major League season, as he posted a 3.41 ERA, 2.47 K/BB rate, and 6.2 K/9 over 60 2/3 innings out of Arizona’s bullpen.  While the bottom-line results were solid, there were some notable red flags in Lopez’s performance, namely some of the highest exit velocity and hard-hit ball rates of any pitcher in the sport.  With a .370 xwOBA that soared above his .298 wOBA, Lopez seemingly benefited greatly from a .233 BABIP that saw much of opposing batters’ solid contact go for naught.  In terms of ERA predictors, Lopez had a 5.03 FIP, 4.47 xFIP, and 4.60 SIERA that all greatly exceeded his 3.41 ERA.

There’s clearly a lot to improve on if Lopez is to continue as a reliable member of the Snakes’ bullpen, though he did display some durability in appearing in 70 games, and he was effective against both left-handed (.723 OPS) and right-handed (.728 OPS) batters.  He also averages a blistering 96.3 mph on his fastball.

Lopez might be best known for receiving the highest bonus ever given to an international amateur player at the time of his signing back in January 2015.  That $8.27MM bonus single-handedly put the D’Backs over the old international spending limit, thus forcing the club to pay a 100 percent tax on the overage and placing the D’Backs into two years of limitations in the international market.  Arizona was limited to signings of $300K or less in two consecutive July 2 signing periods (2015-16 and 2016-17), which was seen as one of the critical errors of the Dave Stewart/Tony La Russa front office.

Some struggles both on and off the field in the minor leagues led to some speculation as to whether Lopez would even reach the Show, though the hard-throwing righty did finally get on track and now has 69 2/3 MLB innings under his belt.  He remains under team control through the 2024 season, so Lopez’s move to Wasserman seemingly wasn’t made with a forthcoming trip to the open market in mind.

MLBTR has already noted Lopez’s agency change in our Agency Database. If you see any notable errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Diamondbacks To Promote Yoan Lopez

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3:17pm: Arizona has announced Lopez’s promotion, and it made room for him by transferring third baseman Jake Lamb to the 60-day disabled list. Lamb underwent season-ending left shoulder surgery last month.

1:37pm: The Diamondbacks will promote right-hander Yoan Lopez from Double-A Jackson, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. Lopez is not on the D-backs’ 40-man roster, which is currently full, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move.

Lopez, a holdover from the Diamondbacks’ ill-fated Dave Stewart/Tony La Russa/De Jon Watson regime, is finally coming to the majors three years after the team signed him out of Cuba. Arizona gave Lopez a whopping $8.27MM bonus, and in doing so, it paid a 100 percent overage tax and limited itself in future international markets. As a result of the Lopez signing, the Diamondbacks were barred from adding any international prospect for more than $300K over the next two signing periods. The club happened to have the majors’ largest bonus pool in 2015-16, making the Lopez-caused limitations all the more costly.

Of course, had Lopez developed into the front-line starter the Diamondbacks thought they were getting, there would be little to no criticism of the signing. Lopez’s tenure with the organization has been rocky at times, however, and he initially had such a difficult time adjusting to his new surroundings that he considered giving up baseball. However, Lopez – now 25 years old – persevered and may have put himself in position to make an impact with the D-backs. While he’s no longer a starter, the hard-throwing Lopez impressed as a Double-A reliever this season, recording a 2.92 ERA/2.85 FIP with 12.7 K/9 against 3.79 BB/9 in 61 2/3 innings.

West Notes: Greinke, Lopez, Padres, Lyles, Ragans

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It has been something of a trying spring for Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke. As Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes, the venerable starter is unlikely to be ready to take the ball on Opening Day — though that isn’t necessarily the primary concern for the organization. The more important consideration, surely, is to ensure that Greinke does not end up with a bigger problem after experiencing what the team is characterizing as minor groin tightness. Greinke was already laboring with sluggish fastball velocity, but it seems the team is generally still optimistic that he’ll be at full strength for the bulk of the coming season.

Here’s more from out west:

  • The D-Backs are seeing renewed promise in young righty Yoan Lopez, Piecoro further writes. It’s an interesting look at the winding path that Lopez has taken since he signed a $8.25MM deal as an international free agent — a contract that cost the team double that amount and also put it in the penalty box for the ensuing two signing periods. The Cuban hurler pitched last year at the High-A level, allowing just three earned runs on 16 hits in 31 2/3 frames while recording a shiny 59:10 K/BB ratio. Beyond the results, Lopez has impressed with his stuff and a new attitude; it’ll certainly be interesting to see if he’s able to push for a chance at the majors at some point in the near future.
  • The Padres are no longer considering Jordan Lyles for their rotation, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell tweets. The veteran righty could still earn a pen slot; given that the Padres promised him $1MM for the season in a deal that includes a 2019 option, it would seem they expected to carry him on the roster in some capacity. But the 27-year-old has been roughed up this spring and in his recent MLB seasons. By Cassavell’s reckoning, also via Twitter, that leaves the battle for the club’s final two starting jobs to veterans Tyson Ross and Chris Young along with younger hurlers Luis Perdomo and Robbie Erlin.
  • Rangers prospect Cole Ragans is slated for an elbow MRI, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was among those to tweet. That’s certainly not the news the organization was hoping for at this stage of camp for a player who was taken 30th overall in the 2016 draft. The southpaw is still nowhere near the majors, having spent last season at the low A level, but he’s seen as a high-ceiling prospect and the Rangers are surely hoping to see him turn in a full season of development. Ragans racked up 87 strikeouts (but also 35 walks) in his 57 1/3 innings last year, ending the season with a 3.61 ERA. For now, it’s just a situation to monitor.
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