Jose Lopez is close to signing with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
Lopez was an All-Star at age 22 and is still just 29 years old, but he hasn’t been a productive regular since 2009 and hit just .236 with a .615 OPS in 313 games as a part-time player during the past three seasons.
For his nine-season career Lopez is a .262 hitter with a .292 on-base percentage and .395 slugging percentage, which has to be among the worst production ever for someone who made an All-Star team so young. Of course, his “All-Star” season wasn’t particularly impressive, as he hit .282 with 10 homers and a .723 OPS, so it’s not as if Lopez was ever anything special.
