Trading Game: Jose Lopez
by Jon Shields ~ June 29th, 2008
As the trading deadline approaches the Seattle Mariners’ front office should be looking towards the future. Instead of having one megapost about all the players that are potentially on the trading block, I decided it would be best to go one player at a time.
When a team begins rebuilding you don’t expect to see the name of 24 year old second baseman who is hitting over .300 and signed on the cheap for the next few seasons, but Jose Lopez should be one of the players the Mariners are shopping. First of all, those aforementioned attributes make him an attractive bargaining chip despite being an over-rated defender and a guy who can’t buy a walk and hasn’t put together a consistent offensive season.
Second, Seattle has the minor league depth at second base, enabling them to deal Lopez if the right package comes along. While a lot of this depth lies in the lower levels, Luis Valbuena was recently promoted to AAA Tacoma. He doesn’t project as a superstar, but it’s looking more and more like he’s got a little more power, better plate discipline, more speed and is a better defender than Lopez, all while hitting for average. While his minor league track record is a little scattered, he’s using the whole field with a great compact swing and looks to be on the fast-track to the bigs.
Do I expect Seattle to shop Lopez? Not really. Either way there may be some teams inquiring about him over the course of the next month. Lopez could bring in a pair of mid-level prospects.
5 Responses to Trading Game: Jose Lopez
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1 June 30th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Lopez is very overated. If they get a good deal for him then I would trade him.
2 June 30th, 2008 at 11:01 am
agreed. he’s swinging the bat well but overall he isn’t all that valuable.
3 July 3rd, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Hey alright Dustin’s back in the game. Woot!
I gotta disagree. I think that trading the 24 year old would be a stupid move. In a season marked with disappointment, he is the only one performing. Why would you trade away talent at 2nd base? It is a hard position to find talent at. Nobody in the minors could step in and do what he has done. I don’t get where you get the balls to call him overrated. This may seem like a post in anger, and it is because I believe you calling the most productive Mariner overrated is very dumb. Where is he overrated? Who cares if he cant draw a walk. He hits line drives and hits over .300.
4 July 3rd, 2008 at 11:57 pm
over-rated defender I said.
5 July 4th, 2008 at 10:48 am
There are 12 2B in the league who are more valuable to their team this year then Lopez. He is a good player but he is overated because most fans think he’s better then he is. Overated doesnt mean you don’t have value. Derek Jeter is overated, Ichiro is overated but they are still very good players.