A month ago the Mariners declined their $4.5 million option on Jose Lopez for 2011 and since then they’ve no doubt been trying to find another team interesting in trading for him with an eye toward taking Lopez to arbitration at a lower salary.
Not surprisingly there were apparently no takers for the disappointing infielder and Mike Salk of 710-ESPN in Seattle reports that the Mariners will non-tender Lopez prior to tomorrow night’s deadline.
Lopez looked like a promising all-around player early in his career, making an All-Star team at age 22 and flashing 25-homer power at times, but his overall game hasn’t developed one bit in seven seasons. He still swings at everything, canceling out the occasionally good power with a miserable .297 career on-base percentage, and has packed on pounds while moving from second base to third base defensively.
Despite seemingly being around forever Lopez is still just 27 years old, but the days of anyone viewing him as a potential star are long gone and after six straight seasons with at least 550 plate appearances he may have to settle for a part-time job in 2011.