According to a report from FanSided’s Robert Murray, infielder Nicky Lopez signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees on Thursday.
Lopez, 30, is a seven-year Major League Baseball veteran who opted out of his minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. In 2025, he’s played four games with the Los Angeles Angels and 14 with the Chicago Cubs.
Mainly known as a defensive specialist, Lopez can play every position in the infield besides first base and catcher. As a member of the Chicago White Sox in 2024, he joined Andrés Giménez and Marcus Semien as an American League Gold Glove Award finalist at second base, ultimately falling short to Giménez.
Lopez played a career-high 151 games with the Kansas City Royals in 2021 and hit .300/.365/.378 with a 104 OPS+ and stole 22 bases in 23 attempts. That season remains the best of his seven years in MLB, and he hit just .241/.312/.294 with a 75 OPS+ for a historically bad 41-121 White Sox club last year.
The Yankees are one of the teams heavily rumored to be in the market for an upgrade at third base before this year’s July 31 MLB trade deadline. Lopez may not be the Yankees’ first choice to take over the position.
Still, he could be a temporary solution to an emerging issue, as natural second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. transitioned back to third base after Oswaldo Cabrera suffered a left ankle fracture on May 12 against the Seattle Mariners.
Ideally, general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone might prefer to move Chisholm back to second after the former Miami Marlin spoke out about the switch.
“Everybody knows I’m a second baseman,” Chisholm told The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner on Tuesday. “Of course, I want to play second base, but whatever it takes to help the team win. If that’s what the team chooses, that’s what I gotta do. I don’t write the lineups. You feel me?”
Time will tell if the Yankees’ addition of Lopez was a depth move or to help fix their confusing operation in the infield.
Photo: Chicago Cubs’ Nico Hoerner, right, celebrates with Nicky Lopez, left, after scoring on a two-run single by Dansby Swanson during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants. in Chicago, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
