Nats sign reliever López, DFA Willingham

The Nationals made the sixth addition to their major league roster in the last month Saturday afternoon. The team announced signing reliever Jorge López to a one-year deal, adding the former All-Star closer to the back end of the bullpen.

López, who turns 32 in February, will earn $3 million plus incentives this year, a source confirmed. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman was first with terms of the deal.

Over a nine-year career that includes stops with the Brewers, Royals, Orioles (twice), Twins, Marlins, Mets and Cubs, the right-hander has a 5.25 ERA, 1.462 WHIP, 31 saves and 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 282 appearances (58 starts). However, since moving to a full-time reliever with the Orioles in 2022, López has a 3.74 ERA, 30 saves, 21 holds and 171 strikeouts in 183 innings.

Last year, López went 2–3 with a 2.89 ERA, 50 strikeouts and four saves in 52 appearances between the Mets and Cubs. He caused some controversy in New York when he was ejected in the eighth inning of a May 29 game against the Dodgers and threw his glove into the stands while walking off the field. After the game, he was quoted as seemingly calling the Mets “the worst team” in the majors.

Though he tried to clarify that he was calling himself “the worst teammate on the worst team in baseball,” the Mets designated López for assignment the next day and released him on June 5.

López signed a minor league deal with the Cubs a week later and was selected to the major league roster on June 28. In 24 appearances with Chicago, he had a 2.03 ERA, 1.088 WHIP, 10.5 K/9 and a 3.88 strikeout-to-walk rate over 26 ⅔ innings. He made 14 consecutive scoreless appearances from July 11 to Aug. 16, which included a 16-inning scoreless streak that was tied for the 10th-longest by a National League reliever in 2024.

The Puerto Rico native made a name for himself in Baltimore when he was selected as an All-Star for the first (and so far only) time of his career. In 44 appearances with the Orioles in 2022, he pitched to a 1.68 ERA, 0.972 WHIP, 10.1 K/9. 3.18 K/BB and 19 saves. He was then traded at the deadline to the Twins for four prospects, including Yennier Cano and Cade Povich.

The Twins flipped López before the 2023 deadline to the Marlins for former Nationals reliever Dylan Floro. The Orioles then selected him off waivers from the Marlins for his second stint in Baltimore, but he was designated for assignment by the end of the season.

To make room for López on the 40-man roster, the Nationals designated Amos Willingham for assignment. The 26-year-old right-hander had a 7.11 ERA and 1.816 WHIP in 19 big league appearances over the last two years with the Nats.

López figures to enter spring training next month as the favorite to be the Nats closer in 2025. That position needed to be filled after the team non-tendered Kyle Finnegan, who was projected to earn around $9 million in arbitration.

Along with López, the Nats bullpen also includes Derek Law, Mason Thompson and Jose A. Ferrer as back end options.