Ex-Mets Reliever Jorge López Signs New Deal With NL Foe

Estranged Mets pitcher Jorge López inked a new deal with another National League club on Wednesday.

May 7, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Jorge Lopez (52) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Former New York Mets reliever Jorge López has had an interesting past two weeks, to say the least. 

López was designated for assignment by the Mets on May 30; one day after he tossed his glove into the stands after being ejected from a game and then proceeded to tell media that he was “the worst teammate in baseball," which was also heard as he was "on the worst team in MLB." But this is still up for debate whether López fully understood the question or not, as english is his second language.

However, López’s fortunes have now turned around. It was reported by The Athletic’s Will Sammon on Wednesday that López has signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago Cubs. 

López was having a solid season with the Mets before his incident at the end of May. He had appeared in 28 games, pitched 26.1 innings, and produced a 3.76 ERA with 19 strikeouts and 2 saves. His ERA was ballooned by a rough outing in his final appearance with the Mets prior to his release.

This year was the 32-year-old's first season with New York. He signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Mets on December 8, 2023 after splitting time with the Minnesota Twins, Miami Marlins, and Baltimore Orioles during the 2023 regular season. 

Across his nine-season MLB career, López has a career 23-42 record with a 5.42 ERA and 29 saves across 506.1 innings pitched.

In the wake of López’s May 30 glove-tossing incident, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said López’s behavior was, “unacceptable”, and was reported to have spoken to López about it after the game. Although López claimed that this conversation never happened. 

Signing López makes sense for Chicago. The combined 4.47 ERA that the Cubs' bullpen has is 24th in MLB, and on Tuesday, the team announced that two relievers (Yency Almonte and Ben Brown) were headed to the IL and wouldn’t return until late June at the earliest. 

Time will tell whether López’s tenure in Chicago goes better than his brief stint as a New York Met.