Veteran infielder Nicky Lopez, who was designated for assignment by the Chicago Cubs earlier this week, went unclaimed on outright waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Iowa. However, Lopez rejected his outright assignment and has elected to head to free agency, where he’ll be free to sign with any team.
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Lopez will now look to join his third MLB team this year.
The 30-year-old began the season with the Cubs after signing a minor league contract in early February. He was then released prior to the start of the season, and joined the Los Angeles Angels.
Lopez appeared in four games with the Angels, going 0-for-6 with a strikeout. He was then designated for assignment, cleared waivers and elected free agency.
Lopez signed back with the Cubs in late April. He appeared in 14 games with Chicago at the big league level, going 1-for-18 (.056) with one RBI, four walks and three strikeouts.
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Now, he’s been designated for assignment again.
Lopez began his career with the Kansas City Royals, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2025 MLB Draft.
Lopez debuted in 2019, and would spend the next four-plus seasons in Kansas City before being traded to the Atlanta Braves in 2023.
He finished the 2023 season with the Braves before being traded to the Chicago White Sox, where he spent the 2024 season.
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Lopez is a defense-first utility man who can play all over the infield. He’s mainly played second base and shortstop, but also has experience at third base and minimal experience at first base and in the outfield.
Offensively, Lopez hasn’t had much success at the MLB level. His best season (and his only season with an OPS+ above 100) was in 2021, when he appeared in 151 games, slashing .300/.365/.378 with 29 extra-base hits, 43 RBIs, 22 stolen bases and an OPS of .744.
Overall, across 686 career games, he has a slash line of .245/.310/.311 with 108 extra-base hits, 153 RBIs and an OPS of .621.
Defensively, he’s been phenomenal, finishing the 2021 season with 26 Outs Above Average, the 2022 season with 14 Outs Above Average and the 2023 season with 9 Outs Above Average.
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