Rodrigo Lopez

It's rare that a pitcher coming off of a season with a full 200-inning workload struggles to find a new team, but it becomes less surprising when you put the accompanying 5.00 ERA under the microscope. Lopez doesn't miss many bats (5.2 K/9IP), and to make matters worse he served up 37 long balls last season while trucking along every fifth day for the D-Backs. While some might guess that hitter-friendly Chase Field was the culprit, that was not the case (19 homers allowed at home, 18 on the road). He's more likely to collect innings at Triple-A or overseas than in a major league rotation again. Still, he has an outside chance to win a major league role with the Braves after signing a minor league contract.

Rodriguez helped the Philadelphia rotation last season when injuries struck and went 3-1 with a 3.62 ERA in five starts. He languished in the bullpen after the Cliff Lee trade and made just two relief appearances. He'll be in the mix for the fifth starter spot this spring after signing with Arizona, but he's a long shot to break camp with the D-Backs and is ultimately more likely to wind up pitching at Triple-A Reno to begin the 2010 season.

Lopez, who is squarely on the trading block this offseason, would have more trade value if he didn’t lose 18 games and put up an ugly 5.90 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in 2006. Still, he’s pitched over 912 innings, won 60 games and struck out 614 batters the last five seasons, so someone in this poor pitching market will make a bid for him. We’d avoid Lopez in most leagues, however, unless he makes a move to the National League.

On the bright side, Lopez pitched 209 1/3 innings, the most innings in his career, and won 15 games in 35 starts. Unfortunately, he gave up 232 hits, also a career high, and was wildly inconsistent in finishing the year with a 4.90 ERA and 1.41 WHIP. Part of the problem could be the fact that Lopez was used as the team's No. 1 starter for most of the season when in fact he'd be best used as a No. 3 guy at best. With the Orioles not getting appreciably better through free agency, the prognostication for Lopez should remain similar to his performance in 2005, with slightly better averages with a similar amount of wins if he can be more consistent in 2006.

Lopez was a surprise omission from the rotation to start the 2004 season, but was dominant in a long relief role out of the bullpen, allowing only one run in his first 27.3 IP. He had a rough patch at first when he was moved back to the rotation, but eventually settled down and was the Orioles’ most consistent starter. He and Sidney Ponson are the only two Orioles starters penciled into the rotation to start the 2005 season, and he should be able to put up similar numbers.

Lopez began the 2003 season as the Orioles Opening Day starter and somewhere along the line lost his good mechanics. He threw in Mexico this winter, which is what he did in the offseason before his solid 2002 rookie year. The Orioles signed Sidney Ponson in the offseason to lead the rotation and will move Lopez back to third or fourth starter. However, a spot in the rotation is not being held for him and he will be required to earn it in spring training.

Lopez came out of nowhere (Mexican leagues, actually) last season to win 15 games and was the runner-up in the AL Rookie of the year voting. He doesn't have electric stuff, but benefited from 6.22 runs per game. His second half numbers fell off, probably because he pitched 11 straight months between winter ball and MLB. Lopez will likely be the O's Opening Day starter, but his lack of pedigree is a concern.