The Pirates signed the veteran free agent to a one-year contract worth $775,000 with the chance to earn another $550,000 in performance bonuses. The Pirates finished last season with Phil Dumatrait as their lone lefty reliever, and they non-tendered him on Dec. 12, making him a free agent.
"I felt like this was a really good fit for me," Lopez said.
Lopez, 32, had a rough 2009 season. He went 0-2 with a 9.26 ERA in 11 games for Boston, then was optioned to Class AAA Pawtucket and did not return to the Red Sox. He was 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 38 games in the International League.
Lopez, though, posted a fine 2.70 ERA in a combined 116 2/3 innings with the Red Sox from 2006-08.
"Being in Boston was a great experience, but it's also a what-have-you-done-for-me lately kind of place," Lopez said. "The Red Sox are a team that is expected to win the World Series every year, and they don't always have a lot of patience with players. When you are in a division like the American League East with the Yankees and Rays, I can't blame the Red Sox for being that way. I got off to a bad start, and they needed to get someone else in there for me."
Lopez has an 11-7 career record with four saves and a 4.62 ERA in 343 games in seven seasons with Colorado (2003-05), Arizona (2005) and Boston (2006-09). After being primarily a left-handed specialist with the Red Sox, Lopez will also face his share of right-handed hitters for the Pirates.
Lopez has held left-handed hitters to a .247 batting average in his career, while right-handers have hit him at a .295 clip. He is looking forward to an expanded role.
"I feel like I'm capable of pitching multiple innings and doing more to help the team than just facing one or two hitters, then leaving the game," Lopez said. "I feel with my sinker that I'm capable of getting right-handed hitters out."
NOTES, QUOTES
--LHP Jack Taschner was signed to a minor league contract and received an invitation to major league spring training. He would be paid $835,000 for time in the major leagues in 2010 with the chance to make an additional $465,000 in performance bonuses. Taschner, 31, was 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA in 24 relief appearances with Philadelphia last season and 0-2 with two saves and a 2.08 ERA in 20 games with Class AAA Lehigh Valley.
--RHP Kevin Hart is likely to land in the bullpen next season unless he beats out RHP Daniel McCutchen in the competition for the fifth starter's job in spring training. McCutchen has to be considered the favorite after going 1-2 with a 4.21 ERA last season in his first six career major league starts after being recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis on Aug. 31. Hart was 1-8 with a 6.92 ERA in 10 starts following his acquisition from the Cubs in a trade on July 30. Many scouts believe Hart is better-suited for the bullpen because of his repertoire of hard stuff that includes a 95 mph fastball and slider.
--RHP Mike MacDougal and RHP Danys Baez are reportedly being targeted by the Pirates on the free agent market. MacDougal, 32, converted 20 of 21 save opportunities for the White Sox and Nationals last season while going 1-1 with a 4.31 ERA in 57 relief appearances. Baez, 32, was 4-6 with a 4.02 ERA in 59 games for Baltimore.
--3B Pedro Alvarez, the Pirates' minor league player of the year last season, has been working out at the Athletes' Performance Institute in Tempe, Ariz., this offseason. Alvarez is likely to begin 2010 at Class AAA Indianapolis after hitting a combined .288 with 27 home runs and 95 RBIs in 126 games with high Class A Lynchburg and Class AA Altoona in his professional debut season.
--LHP Corey Hamman, RHP Jeremy Powell and OF/1B Brian Myrow were all re-signed as minor league free agents. Hamman, 29, was a combined 1-5 with one save and a 5.88 ERA in 55 relief appearances with Class AA Altoona and Class AAA Indianapolis last season. Powell, 33, was 4-7 with two saves and a 3.74 ERA in 34 games, 10 starts, with Indianapolis. Myrow, 33, hit a combined .307 with 15 home runs and 59 RBIs in 110 games at the Class AAA level with the White Sox's Charlotte farm club and Indianapolis.
--Pitching coach Dean Treanor was promoted from Class AA Altoona to Class AAA Indianapolis to replace Ray Searage, who has joined the major league staff as a special assignment coach. The only other changes the Pirates made to their minor league staffs were to hire Tom Filer as pitching coach at Altoona and Mike Lum as hitting coach in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League.
BY THE NUMBERS: 18 -- Career major league saves by players on the Pirates' 40-man roster, 14 by RHP Joel Hanrahan and four by LHP Javier Lopez.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "There are plenty of bodies out there." -- GM Neal Huntington, referring to the large number of free agent relievers remaining on the market, giving him confidence he can reconstruct his bullpen.