Not a Bad Idea? Lopez as closer

[waroriole]

On 5/1/2022 at 10:01 AM, Frobby said:

Who said that?    I don’t recall anybody being ready to DFA Lopez.  

Oh there were plenty. I’m not calling anyone out but many people were saying just get rid of him. 

[xmichaelx]

Should we trade him for a top 100 guy?

[Sports Guy]

6 minutes ago, xmichaelx said:

Should we trade him for a top 100 guy?

We should absolutely be exploring the trade market for him.  Whether or not teams will give up enough to trade him is a different story.

 

[sportsfan8703]

2 minutes ago, xmichaelx said:

Should we trade him for a top 100 guy?

I don’t think the return would justify losing what he brings to the team next year. I’m still holding out hope that next year’s team could be around .500. I wouldn’t trade him away for the Givens or Castro trade returns.

I’d have to think long and hard if offered a Bundy type of trade return(Bradish, Brnovich, Peek, and Mattison).  I’m a big believer in if you can flip RP for SP, you should. It’s a coin flip for me, but I would take the SP just because we don’t have the depth in the minors. 

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

I don’t think the return would justify losing what he brings to the team next year. I’m still holding out hope that next year’s team could be around .500. I wouldn’t trade him away for the Givens or Castro trade returns.

I’d have to think long and hard if offered a Bundy type of trade return(Bradish, Brnovich, Peek, and Mattison).  I’m a big believer in if you can flip RP for SP, you should. It’s a coin flip for me, but I would take the SP just because we don’t have the depth in the minors. 

We aren't sure what he brings to next year's team.

SG showed some data that indicates that his performance might be difficult to duplicate going forward.

To me you basically have a handful of guys in the league at any time that are stone cold locks coming out of the pen.  I don't think Lopez is there and I'd certainly strongly consider trading him for a top 100 guy.

Now I would I be interested in trading him for a collection of lesser talent?  No.  The phase in which a mass accumulation of lesser talent was prioritized should be in the past.

[Just Regular]

I guess by now Hyde won't want to mess with the juju, and to Elias-Sig-Blood's dismay some relievers probably would consider a transition out of the Closer role a demotion*, but him going all the way from 6-inning mode to 1-inning mode seems not to maximize his innings potential, and this Club is going to struggle with 1450.

*certainly fair for Lopez to feel this apart from the Locker Room Status aspects - next year Arb2 the difference between 10 and 25 saves probably means real-world millions to him.

If the Org really likes him and wants more innings, now seems like a decent time for say a 2-year early agreement on Arb2/Arb3 price points.     $$$/WAR wise, it seems like the tender threat of Jorge Lopez getting too many Saves exists the same as Ryan Mountcastle getting too many RBI's.    Arb2 probably safe, but Arb3....

[Aristotelian]

1 hour ago, xmichaelx said:

Should we trade him for a top 100 guy?

I would absolutely float his name and listen to offers. 

[yark14]

Jorge Lopez is putting together an absolutely incredible season.  Easily as good as Britton's best year.

[emmett16]

I watched him with my son warm up in the pen before a game last year and remember posting that he just didn't seem to be focused and looked like he was going through the motions.  His stuff was always electric, and his fastball has always had unbelievable movement and velocity.  He would look brilliant for a few innings and then completely lose it.  Later the story came out about his son Mikael and his medial issues.  Sometimes people forget these guys are human beings.   I'm ecstatic that he is finally having the success that he is capable of.  

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

20 minutes ago, yark14 said:

Jorge Lopez is putting together an absolutely incredible season.  Easily as good as Britton's best year.

Elias already has Lopez’s locker reassigned day after the deadline. 

[Sports Guy]

10 hours ago, yark14 said:

Jorge Lopez is putting together an absolutely incredible season.  Easily as good as Britton's best year.

 No it’s not.

[webbrick2010]

35 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

 No it’s not.

without looking at the details, no way is he as good as Britton. Britton went dozens of games without the opposing team getting a ball out of the infield.

[Aristotelian]

11 hours ago, yark14 said:

Jorge Lopez is putting together an absolutely incredible season.  Easily as good as Britton's best year.

I thought no way this is true but had to check. I would still take Britton based on higher K/9 and lower BB's but looks like Lopez is on pace for higher fWAR and rWAR. Not sure what that is based on since league offense is down, so Britton's season should be even more impressive. I would still predict some regression by the end of the year but you never know. Either way, an amazing story. 

Lopez '22 fWAR 1.1 rWAR 1.9 ERA 0.79 K/9 8.9 BB/9 3.4

Britton fWAR 2.5 '16 rWAR 4.1 ERA 0.54 K/9 9.9 BB/9 2.4

 

[sportsfan8703]

What position are we getting back in this trade that would be worth it?  A reliever?  We already have those. The lineup is set for the future with a pipeline behind it. We need SP. 
 

I think Lopez is for real, and Bautista is more of your volatile type of reliever, but 100 mph is a good volatile to have. 

[baltfan]

2 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

I thought no way this is true but had to check. I would still take Britton based on higher K/9 and lower BB's but looks like Lopez is on pace for higher fWAR and rWAR. Not sure what that is based on since league offense is down, so Britton's season should be even more impressive. I would still predict some regression by the end of the year but you never know. Either way, an amazing story. 

Lopez '22 fWAR 1.1 rWAR 1.9 ERA 0.79 K/9 8.9 BB/9 3.4

Britton fWAR 2.5 '16 rWAR 4.1 ERA 0.54 K/9 9.9 BB/9 2.4

 

One thing that needs to not be underestimated is how many multi-inning saves he has.  There is tremendous value in that.