Another interesting name floated on the waiver wire as the Baltimore Orioles designated catcher Javier Lopez for free agency. As
is being reported, the Red Sox are working with Baltimore to arrange a trade, meaning that the White Sox had the chance to put in a claim and chose not to.
This may seem like another possible rival bulking up while the Sox stand pat, but I think this is an alright non-move by Kenny Williams.
And I'm the guy who wrote a three-part series bemoaning the Sandy Alomar Jr. acqusition.
There would've been a few positives. For one, it would've prevented the Red Sox from improving their catching position, which is currently a patchwork situation now that Jason Varitek is due to miss four to six weeks. And Lopez is a righty catcher, which makes him a natural platoon partner for A.J. Pierzynski.
But while he's been a better offensive catcher than Alomar his entire career, it wouldn't have been the right fit for the White Sox for the following reasons:
No. 1: Price. I'm sure Jerry Reinsdorf could've found a way to absorb the ~$3 million still owed to Lopez out of the $9 million still owed to him, since it's his last year. And since he's in the last year of the contract, that $3 million might buy a couple extra compensatory picks in next year's draft.
But in order to claim those picks, they would need to offer Lopez arbitration, which would likely be around $5 million or so. Given that Lopez is a 36-year-old catchers with numbers in decline three seasons in a row, he might not pass up easy money -- even if it pales in comparison to the three-year, $22.5 million deal he signed to join the Orioles in 2004.
If the Sox don't offer him arbitration, then they'll have paid a lot of money (and a minor leaguer) for a limited number of at-bats. If Lopez accepts arbitration, then the Sox have about $10 million tied up at the catcher position for next year, which is $4 million too much for the numbers they'd get. And speaking of numbers...
No. 2: PerformanceLopez is having his worst offensive season since 2002, when everybody in Atlanta questioned his desire. He bounced back with a record-setting power season for catchers (43 homers, up from 11 the previous season), but I'd wager he doesn't have that in him nowadays.
This year, his OPS against lefties is .703 in 77 at-bats. There are sample-size issues, of course, but that stat has also been in decline with the rest of his game. And considering he might see only 80 at-bats the rest of the season if he were backing up Pierzynski, I'm not sure how big the difference would be over Alomar for the rest of the year in a back-up role. I'd say not enough to overcome his...
No. 3: AttitudeLopez has had the reputation as being a bad game-caller for years, and now he's a whiner on top of that. He was upset that he wasn't moved by the deadline, because the Orioles had no use for him with the superior Ramon Hernandez getting most of the playing time.
The Sox haven't been opposed to signing trouble-makers, but given the role Lopez would be playing (the same one complained about in Baltimore), he's probably not worth the time. The Sox have enough problems as it is, and I wouldn't want to add another one who has to deal with our struggling starting pitchers. Say what you will about Alomar -- and I've said plenty -- but people like being around him.
It's true that Lopez's bat could come alive and he could go on a tear the rest of the season, but he's recently shown a stronger tendency to be complacent -- when he's not injured, that is. If he helps the Red Sox to a playoff spot over the White Sox, it will surely sting, but I don't think the division hinges on it. And if it did, then all that means is that the White Sox had far bigger issues.