During today's game, the Cubs traded catcher Rafael Lopez to the Angels for minor league pitcher Manny Rondon and the Angel's number four international draft slot pool money. Lopez had been designated for assignment on June 27 after being removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Donn Roach.
Lopez was a 16th round pick out of Florida State in 2011. He worked his way up the system, making minor league all-star teams with Peoria in 2012 and Tennessee in 2013 and 2014. He's mostly known as an offense-first catcher, although his defense behind the plate was good enough to leave him there. Lopez got a September callup last year where he went 2 for 11 with two walks and a sacrifice fly.
This season in Iowa, Lopez hit .276/.333/.340 in 46 games.
Manny Rondon is a 20-year-old left-hander from Venezuela who is pitching in the US for the first time this season with the Angels rookie ball team in Arizona. He's made two appearances and one was against the Cubs where he was shelled for six runs in 3.1 innings and took the loss. But he must have done something that impressed the Cubs at least a little.
The big prize in this deal is the international cap space. The Cubs are right now looking at extreme penalties for going over their bonus pool in the international market. I can't pretend I know where the Cubs stand right now with this added pool money, but I assume we'll find out in the coming days. In the worst case, it will save the Cubs a lot of money in fines for going over.