Jose Lopez to Colorado

According to Shannon Drayer, the Mariners have shipped soon-to-be non-tendered Jose Lopez off to Colorado, for RHP Chaz Roe. This effectively signals the end of Jose Lopez’s Mariner career, and while there was a time when I was fond of Jose, it’s hard to say anything but good riddance. At times, he showed great promise – his 2008 and 2009 seasons weren’t half bad – but he could never develop a respectable approach at the plate, and the Mariners simply can’t afford to invest any more time or money in him. There are plenty of bad things to say about him, and they’re probably all warranted, but the fact is, he wasn’t Yuni, and I can’t thank him enough for that.

As for the return, Chaz Roe is a 24 year old starter, and former first round draft pick (2005, 32nd overall). After a solid 2009 season in AA ball, he spent last year with Colorado’s AAA affiliate, where he posted a 4.36 FIP with mediocre peripherals. However, his .367 BABIP indicates that more balls were falling than what probably should have. He generates a decent amount of ground balls, while his strikeout and walk rates have pretty consistently hovered around average.

He’s not really anything special at this point, but he could end up being a decent back-of-the-rotation starter, and for now he adds some depth to the system’s young pitching. All in all, we should be pretty happy that we managed to get anything of value for Jose Lopez.