For the Padres, Lopez would be essentially a depth signing, though David Eckstein and Everth Cabrera aren't exactly rock-solid everyday options in the middle infield. Cabrera is entering just his second season, and Eckstein has never posted an OPS in any of his nine major league seasons that has come within 50 points of the .810 OPS that Lopez achieved in 680 plate appearances last season..

Source
www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/02/padres-ca...in-felipe-lopez.html

So, now the team has extra money??

Padres, Cardinals, Others Interested In Felipe Lopez
bit.ly/aOgqcE #mlb

Thoughts?

yes please.

Definitely interesting, but I don't see it unless the front office really does not believe Cabrera or Antonelli

"Definitely interesting, but I don't see it unless the front office really does not believe Cabrera or Antonelli"

It really would not affect Matt. He first needs to prove his worth in the minors (in AAA) for a full season. Also Lopez would most likely move Eck out of the starting lineup(being an upgrade over all) either as a bench player or sending him to another team.

They could drop, Stairs, Oscar Eck. If signed.. however Oscar is a hitter, and the Pads need a left handed threat off the bench. IMO it would be a big improvement over Eck considering all the intangibles, however I do think Eck will have a come back type year. Lopez is also better suited IMO to play second where as in St. he would get more looks at SS.

I think Salazar has an option and dropping Eckstein would only be sacrificing around 600K if another team picks him up. Either way they should do what they can to bring on Lopez. He would be perfect for the 2 or even 3 hole. I wouldn't mind seeing this against RHP:

Cabrera
Gwynn
Lopez
Gonzalez
Blanks
Headley
Venable
Hundley/Torrealba

Get some OBP and speed in front of Gonzo.

I think this is just a smoke screen, Jed is making calls because that is his job.

I think if you bring in quality guys at below market, you need to be able to tie them up for longer than a year.

I'm not that impressed that Lopez is that much of an upgrade over eck outside of the box score. Eck is here for reasons other than just being a bat. He's like a coach on the field and a great example for this young team.

Eck can be all of that on the bench while he's not being a hole in the lineup batting second. Lopez would be an upgrade and would probably be a bargain for the production he will give you.

SD Steve wrote:
I think this is just a smoke screen, Jed is making calls because that is his job.

I think if you bring in quality guys at below market, you need to be able to tie them up for longer than a year.

I'm not that impressed that Lopez is that much of an upgrade over eck outside of the box score. Eck is here for reasons other than just being a bat. He's like a coach on the field and a great example for this young team.

Like padrehomer already said, Eck can be the "coach on the field" from the bench. Not that much of an upgrade? If he hits anywhere near his .310 .383 .427 of last year he is a MAJOR offensive upgrade.

Like padrehomer already said, Eck can be the "coach on the field" from the bench. Not that much of an upgrade? If he hits anywhere near his .310 .383 .427 of last year he is a MAJOR offensive upgrade.

The issue is that outside of last season he hasn't played a full season since 2007 and then his numbers were .245/.308/.352

He also played in very hitter friendly parks with protection in 2009, moving to Petco will be a much different story.

Eck leads by example, playing hard running plays out, helping a young infield and a very raw short stop. I'd rather have Eck out there with ECab than lopez. Lopez is a short term solution. Making sure ECab develops is a long term issue and I think Eck is better suited for that.

If we were one guy away then you look at it, but we are not and I'm not so sure Lopez can put up much better numbers in Petco than eck will.