INF Lopez returns to Cards for 1 year
February 27, 2010
JUPITER, Fla. (AP)—Felipe Lopez(notes) bounded into the St. Louis Cardinals clubhousefollowing his early morning physical Saturday prepared to work in the battingcage before the rest of the squad took to the fields.
He’s just that happy to be back with the Cardinals.
Lopez signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Cardinals, returninghim to the team he played for briefly in 2008. Lopez could earn $1.2 million inperformance bonuses this season.
“This has been my first choice since I played here in ’08,” Lopez said.“It’s a great organization. I’m proud to be here. They treated me, like always,with open arms.”
Lopez hit .385 with four home runs in 43 games after coming to St. Louisfrom Washington in 2008. Splitting time between Arizona and Milwaukee last year,he hit .310 with nine home runs.
St. Louis General Manager John Mozeliak wanted to give manager Tony La Russamore options in the lineup and infield.
“The idea of why we went down this path was to just give Tony moreflexibility in his lineup,” Mozeliak said. “When you look at what Felipe iscapable of doing, he really has the ability to play every position on the fieldother than pitcher and catcher, and he’s a switch hitter.”
Depending on the development of David Freese(notes) and Joe Mather(notes), Lopez could seesignificant time early at third base. He could also be part of the solution atshortstop if Brendan Ryan(notes) doesn’t recover as quickly as expected from offseasonwrist surgery.
“We all thought we were a little thin,” St. Louis manager Tony La Russasaid. “We just got a little heftier as far as depth. If he (signed) with us heknew he could play multiple positions and he’s fine with that.”
Following a solid 2009, Lopez expected to be in some team’s camp muchearlier than this. Upset by his status, Lopez changed his representation twoweeks ago from Scott Boras to Beverly Hills Sports Council.
A first-round selection by Toronto in 1998, Lopez reached the majors withthe Blue Jays in 2001 and was an All-Star for Cincinnati in 2005.
“I don’t know that he would have been (available) if we had waited throughthe weekend,” Mozeliak said. “We either had to do it now or relegate ourselvesto, if we thought we needed that left-handed bat somewhere else, we would havehad to pursue it in a trade.”
Mozeliak added that Lopez’s attitude during his two-month stretch with theclub in 2008 factored in the decision to bring him back.
“I’m excited,” Lopez said. “It’s been tough just waiting around. I hateit. What matters is that I’m here. I’m in a good place with people I can learn alot from.”
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