On Saturday afternoon, the Nationals made headlines again, as they finally have begun to address the remaining black hole in their roster before Spring Training kicks off. After making numerous additions to the fray over the last couple weeks on MiLB deals, the club brought in veteran righty Jorge López on a 1-year deal for just $3 million, but he will have the opportunity to earn more through incentives. Additionally, the club designated righty Amos Willingham for assignment as the corresponding move, who I labeled as being on the roster bubble a few days ago.
I had a feeling that a move to shore up the back end of the bullpen was going to be coming at some point, as the club had already said farewell to numerous relievers who spent time in the bullpen during the 2024 season in Jordan Weems, Tanner Rainey, Robert Garcia, and closer Kyle Finnegan. At this time, it is sort of unclear if the team will plan to use López as the closer or as a setup man, but no matter which role he is in, this is a valuable addition and a job well done by Mike Rizzo and the front office.
López has bounced around quite a bit throughout his 9 seasons in the majors, peaking in 2022 with the Baltimore Orioles when he was named an All-Star for the first and only time in his career to this point. Before the trade deadline that season with the Orioles he posted a sparkling 1.68 ERA and 0.972 WHIP, saving 19 games in the process. He would then be dealt to the Minnesota Twins at the deadline, where he regressed back towards his average career numbers.
In the years since, he has spent time with the Marlins, Orioles, Mets, and Cubs, and is coming off a very solid 2024 season between the Mets and Cubs, posting a 2.89 ERA and 1.226 WHIP. López actually somewhat infamously made headlines during his time with the Mets last season, as he was ejected from a game, threw his glove into the stands, and accidentally called the Mets "the worst team in all of [expletive] MLB." while actually intending to call himself the worst teammate on the worst team in baseball.
Jorge López was ejected from the game and tossed his glove into the stands on his way out pic.twitter.com/jYHYtBH9jm
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 29, 2024
The bottom line is, the incident was not a great look for López, although he rebounded very nicely after joining the Cubs in late June of last year. He posted a 2.03 ERA and 1.088 WHIP in 24 appearances with the Cubs, and came into free agency in search of a fresh start.
He will get that fresh start with the Nationals, and it will be interesting to see if the team chooses to use him as their closer, given that he hasn't had substantial work in the 9th inning role since that All-Star 2022 season. As I said above, the bottom line is this is a job well done by Mike Rizzo, and a worthwhile gamble that could pay dividends if the club chooses to sell off at the deadline again this year.
The bullpen likely still needs another addition or two before heading into the 2025 season, and I would not be surprised if they still decided to explore a reunion with Kyle Finnegan, and opting to use López in a setup role. Perhaps the club will even bring in another bat to add to their already 6 MLB additions, but ultimately time will tell.
we have agreed to terms with RHP Jorge Lopez on a one-year contract pic.twitter.com/SMSEOXkwGj
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) January 11, 2025
What do you think of the Jorge López signing? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.