The Cardinals have signed 28-year old switch hitting Felipe Lopez to a contract covering the remainder of the season. Lopez played in 100 games for the Nationals this season and he was 76 for 325 (.234 avg, .619 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 2 homers, 25 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The thinking here is that Lopez will push Cesar Izturis to the bench eventually as he has a better bat and upside. Lopez has now played in 830 games in his major league career and he is 778 for 3,045 (.256 avg, .713 OPS) with 418 runs scored, 67 homers, 313 RBIs and 105 stolen bases. This was a nice low risk/high reward signing for the Cardinals.