Javier Lopez signs 1-year deal w/Sox

Lefty reliever Javier Lopez avoided salary arbitration with the Sox by coming to terms on a one-year deal for $840,000. That leaves the Sox with two aribitation-eligible players, Kevin Youkilis and Kyle Snyder. That's a nice bump in pay for Lopez, more than doubling his 2007 salary of $402,500. Lopez appeared in 61 games for the Sox last season, second only to Hideki Okajima's 66.

Lopez survived on the Sox last season at the expense of JC Romero, who was designated by the Sox and wound up playing a key role for the Phillies (earning a 3-year, $12m contract this offseason).