In the 2021 season, Lopez recorded his best two-way year to date. He reached within the top 50 players for most hits in the league, tacking on 149 that year. He also slashed .300/.365/.378 from the plate and stole 22 bases – the 12th most in MLB that season.
"If, in the end, we're choosing from Romy and Lenyn, with Leury as a potential backup – that's something we certainly feel gives us an opportunity to win, but at the same time isn't going to necessarily preclude us from looking at ways to get better," Hahn said in early January. Certainly, leaving the post to Gonzalez offers more risk than Lopez.
Yet since the beginning, they've ditched that plan with the free agent acquisitions of starting pitcher Mike Clevinger and outfielder Andrew Benintendi, the latter of who received the highest guaranteed contract in franchise history. The Kansas City Royals have been active in the trade market, and in the AL Central too. They traded center fielder Michael Taylor Jr. to the Minnesota Twins for pitchers Evan Sisk and Steven Cruz on Monday.