Washington Nationals Agree to Terms With Former All-Star Reliever

The Washington Nationals have continued to invest into the pitching staff with another free agency move on Saturday.

Shared on social media, the Nationals announced that they had agreed to terms with relief pitcher Jorge Lopez on a one-year contract. That deal will be worth $3 million plus incentives per Jon Heyman.

This is the third pitcher that Washington has signed this offseason, with Michael Soroka brought in as a free agent and Trevor Williams receiving a new deal to say.

They also added another reliever, Evan Reifert, as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lopez made headlines last year with his infamous exit from the New York Mets. He caused a stir after a loss when he referred to himself as ‘the worst teammate on the worst team in baseball.’

For a lot of players, that might spell an end to the season. The fastball-heavy reliever was able to bounce back. He was released and then signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs.

The 31-year-old came back from controversy as strong as ever, posting a 2.03 ERA over the final 26.2 innings of work.

With the loss of Kyle Finnegan, Lopez makes sense as a potential replacement at closer. He does have some closing experience, but has not been his main role for much of his career.

That season, 2022, was the year he made his first and only All-Star team.

He is a ground ball machine that loves to force bad contact. Keeping him in a situational role could also be a smart idea, given that he struggles against lefties.

No matter how he is used, this is another good signal that the Nationals don’t want to throw any season away.