The Atlanta Braves have signed former Orioles pitcher Rodrigo Lopez to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league spring training, the team announced Monday.

Lopez went 60-58 with a 4.72 ERA in 167 games (141 starts) for the Orioles from 2002 to 2006. His best season in Baltimore was in 2002, when the right-hander went 15-9 with a 3.57 ERA in 33 games (28 starts) and finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting.

However, he might be best remembered by many Orioles fans for his last season with the team, in which he went 9-18 in 36 games (29 starts), leading the AL in losses and posting a 5.90 ERA.

Lopez was also the most recent Orioles player to go a salary arbitration hearing with the team, before the 2006 season. The Orioles won the case.

Lopez, 35, has also pitched for the San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks during a major league career that began in 2000. He was signed by the Padres as an undrafted free agent in 1995.

The pitcher struggled with Arizona in 2010, going 7-16 -- this time leading the National League in losses -- with a 5.00 ERA in 33 starts.