While with the Orioles, Javy Lopez played against his former teammates at Turner Field.
Click to enlarge photo.
photo by Tim Evearitt
Javy Lopez was one of the fan favorites with the Atlanta Braves for many years. Fans were very disappointed when Lopez signed a three-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. Of course, the performance of Johnny Estrada made them forget about Lopez (except for many female fans who adored Javy); and now Brian McCann has established himself as Atlanta's catcher for the next decade.
The Red Sox acquired catcher Lopez from Baltimore on Aug. 4 hoping he could provide a veteran bat and adequate catching with Jason Varitek on the disabled list.
Less than 40 days after getting neither, the Sox released Lopez on Friday, allowing him to try to catch on with another team for the final weeks of the season.
"The reasoning behind [the move] was, when 'Tek went down, we needed a guy that could kinda shoulder some responsibility of catching multiple games -- Javy did that," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "Now that 'Tek's back ... there really wasn't at-bats for [Lopez]. And being a veteran and actually being a great guy, this seemed like the best thing to do.
"Rather than designating him for assignment, just by flat-out releasing him it gives him a chance to maybe hook on with another team for the last three weeks. We talked to him about it ... I know he understood and appreciated the way we did it. We just didn't want him to sit here and not get a single at-bat."
In 18 games with the Red Sox, Lopez, who had played in 94 games with the Orioles, batted just .190 with no homers and four RBIs in 63 at-bats. He hadn't appeared since going 0-for-3 against Toronto on Saturday, finishing his Red Sox career in a 1-for-18 slump.
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Adapted from article on the Major League Baseball website.
Johnny Estrada replaced Lopez but, after McCann joined the Braves, was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Click to enlarge photo.
photo by Tim Evearitt