Like most Mariners hitters Jose Lopez has been a huge disappointment this season, batting .240/.271/.340 for a career-worst .610 OPS that ranks dead last in the league and represents a 150-point drop from his 2009 production.
He’s shown almost no improvement in seven seasons with the Mariners, continuing to swing at everything while putting on weight to become a less capable defender. And now his Mariners career may have ended with Lopez suffering a dislocated right middle finger last night, because he’s likely to sit out the final six games and it’s awfully tough to imagine Seattle bringing him back in 2011.
His contract has a $4.25 million team option or $250,000 buyout, so my guess is the Mariners will attempt to trade Lopez to a team that still thinks he has some upside at age 26 and will buy him out if they can’t find a taker. He’s just one year removed from a 25-homer, 96-RBI season, but even that came with a terrible .303 on-base percentage and mediocre .766 OPS.
Cardinals sign pitcher Miles Mikolas to 3-year, $55.75M deal
Rhona Wise/USA TODAY Sports
ST. LOUIS — Miles Mikolas is sticking with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The right-hander signed a three-year, $55.75 million contract on Friday that will carry through the 2025 season.
The new deal replaces a $68 million, four-year contract signed in February 2019 that covered the 2020-23 seasons and was set to pay $15.75 million this year.
Mikolas will receive a $5 million signing bonus payable July 1 and will make $18.75 million in 2023 and $16 million in each of the following two seasons. Mikolas can earn a $250,000 bonus for winning a Cy Young Award, $50,000 for All-Star election or selection or winning a Gold Glove, $100,000 for League Championship Series MVP and $150,000 for World Series MVP.
Mikolas is scheduled to make the second opening-day start of his big league career next Thursday when the Cardinals host Toronto. Mikolas went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA last season while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.
“Miles stands among the top pitchers in the game today, and has continued to provide a steady presence for us both in the rotation and inside the clubhouse,” St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement.
Mikolas is 45-40 with a 3.79 in 143 games with San Diego, Texas and St. Louis. He recently pitched six shutout innings in two appearances for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic.