ATLANTA, Georgia (AFP) — Javy Lopez, a 37-year-old catcher from Puerto Rico attempting a Major League Baseball comeback, announced his retirement Saturday after failing to make the Atlanta Braves roster.
Lopez hit just .188 with two home runs in 32 pre-season games after missing the entire 2007 season and was not on the Braves' 25-man roster for the upcoming season. He rejected playing for a developmental team.
Lopez was dropped by Colorado last year during pre-season training and decided to take a year off but had hoped to return with the Braves, for whom he began his career in 1993 and played until 2003.
He signed with Baltimore in 2004 and played 2 1/2 seasons with the Orioles before being traded to the Boston Red Sox late in the 2006 season. He played in only 103 games the following year and just 94 games in 2006.
Lopez finished with a career .287 batting average, hitting 260 homers and driving in 864 runs.
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