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Blue Jays send off minor league fielder away in trade

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
|
Feb 13 2024, 8:39 pm
Blue Jays send off minor league fielder away in trade
Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports

With Toronto Blue Jays fans clamouring for the team to make a big move, they’ve opted for a relatively minor one.

Today, the organization announced they’d traded utility man Otto Lopez to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for cash considerations.

Lopez performed remarkably well at the plate for Toronto in an admittedly small sample size. In 10 at-bats over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Lopez managed six hits across nine games, putting his career batting average at .600.

Lopez did not feature at all for the Blue Jays in 2023, spending the entirety of the season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons.

In 80 games for Buffalo, he hit .251/.307/.330 with two home runs, 31 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. He was placed on the 60-day disabled list on August 1, missing the final two months of the season with a left oblique strain.

Lopez was designated for assignment last week following the Jays’ official announcement of signing free-agent pitcher Yariel Rodriguez. With a relatively crowded infield and outfield, there weren’t likely to be many opportunities for the 25-year-old Dominican-Canadian to crack Toronto’s major league roster anytime soon.

Originally born in the Caribbean, Lopez grew up in Montreal and later gained Canadian citizenship. Toronto was the only MLB organization he’d been a part of, having originally signed with the franchise as an international free agent back in 2016 at the age of just 17.

Spring training officially opens for the Blue Jays on February 24, when they face off against the Philadelphia Phillies at 10:07 am ET/1:07 pm ET. The regular season gets going a month later when they visit the Tampa Bay Rays on March 28 for a 1:08 pm PT/4:08 ET first pitch to begin their 2024 campaign.

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