Most players probably could never fathom living out the season that utility infielder Nicky Lopez just had.
Between February and November, Lopez changed teams six times, played for four organizations, and signed three contracts with the Chicago Cubs. In a sense, it was like the Cubs were his home base, and although he wasn’t included on the team’s playoff roster, he stuck around in reserve in case someone got injured in October.
However, now that the season has long been over, Lopez is back in a familiar place. According to the official transactions log on his roster page, he recently elected minor-league free agency.
The move officially happened on Nov. 6, but it was not reflected on the transactions log until at least a week later.
It’s hard to recap Lopez’s full season in only a couple of paragraphs, but here’s the upshot: He signed with the Cubs in February, got released at the end of spring training, then signed a major league deal with the Angels, spending the first month of the regular season on the active roster there before he was designated for assignment. Then, he signed with the Cubs again, spent the next month on the major league roster, and was DFA’d a second time in May.
From that point forward, he spent the remainder of the year on Triple-A rosters, but signed minor-league deals with the Arizona Diamondbacks, then the New York Yankees, and finally, the Cubs one last time.
Lopez only appeared in major league games for the Cubs and Angels this year, putting up just one hit in 24 at-bats. But he batted .267 with a .352 on-base percentage in 70 Triple-A games, which is more impressive when you consider he played those games for three different teams.
Early in Lopez’s major league career, he was a fairly consistent performer for the Kansas City Royals. He’s also played for the Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox in his seven major league seasons, and we’ll see if he earns the chance for an eighth.
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