Finger injury may mark end of Jose Lopez’s career in Seattle

Like most Mariners hitters Jose Lopez has been a huge disappointment this season, batting .240/.271/.340 for a career-worst .610 OPS that ranks dead last in the league and represents a 150-point drop from his 2009 production. He’s shown almost no improvement in seven seasons with the Mariners, continuing to swing at everything while putting on weight to become a less capable defender. And now his Mariners career may have ended with Lopez suffering a dislocated right middle finger last night, because he’s likely to sit out the final six games and it’s awfully tough to imagine Seattle bringing him back in 2011. His contract has a $4.25 million team option or $250,000 buyout, so my guess is the Mariners will attempt to trade Lopez to a team that still thinks he has some upside at age 26 and will buy him out if they can’t find a taker. He’s just one year removed from a 25-homer, 96-RBI season, but even that came with a terrible .303 on-base percentage and mediocre .766 OPS.