Former University of Hawai'i catcher Esteban Lopez said he signed yesterday with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who picked him in the 25th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft last Wednesday.

Lopez said he leaves today for Vero Beach, Fla., the training quarters for the Dodgers.

"Being a part of the Dodgers, it's just awesome," Lopez said in a telephone interview from his home in Arizona.

Lopez spent two seasons with the Rainbows after two seasons at Yavapai, a junior college in Arizona. He had been drafted out of Chandler High in Arizona and again after his first season at Yavapai.

He left his mark at UH as strong defensive catcher. In his two seasons with UH, he committed only four errors, two in each season. Lopez batted .260 with 15 doubles this past season.

Meanwhile, University of San Francisco pitcher Patrick McGuigan, a 2002 graduate of Mid-Pacific Institute, signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, who drafted him in the 27th round. He is in Toronto's mini-camp in Dunedin, Fla.

McGuigan said he will be assigned Friday to either the organization's rookie club in Pulaski (Va.) of the Appalachian League or at the short-season Single-A club in Auburn (N.Y.) of the New York-Pennsylvania League.

"There's a tropical storm out there, but otherwise everything's all right," he said in a telephone interview from Florida.

McGuigan was 12-3 with a 3.29 earned run average and five saves this past season.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.