Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and 2023 playoff hero Jordan Montgomery both remain free agents with two weeks until Opening Day, which regardless of what they started the offseason asking for is shocking given how good both of them are.
Also still a free agent is former Phillies righty Michael Lorenzen, although the former All-Star’s market seems to be more robust than Snell or Montgomery’s.
Lorenzen has previously been rumored a target of the San Diego Padres, although that’s probably not going to happen after they completed a blockbuster trade Wednesday evening to acquire Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox.
However, the flip side of that is the pitching-needy White Sox — who currently seem likely to start Erick Fedde on Opening Day — were rumored to be interested in Lorenzen earlier this week by The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal. Now that Cease is gone, they make even more sense as a landing spot for the 32-year-old.
The New York Yankees also make more sense as a fit for Lorenzen than they did at the outset of the week, with reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole set to open the 2024 season on the injured list. While Snell or Montgomery would be even better additions with Cole likely to miss significant time to open the season, Lorezen would be much cheaper. Indeed, Jon Heyman of The New York Post says that the Yankees have “checked in” on Lorenzen.
Back in February, Tim Britton and Will Sammon of The Athletic also reported that the Mets had “checked in” on Lorenzen. Heyman also mentioned the Angels — who Lorenzen previously pitched for in 2022 — as a team with interest in the righty last month.
Of the four teams mentioned as suitors for Lorenzen, only the Angels appear to be a serious contender for one of Snell or Montgomery. Perhaps the Yankees will eventually cave and sign one of the two, but Lorenzen’s market doesn’t really seem to be dependent on either Snell or Montgomery signing first. This close to the season, he’s unlikely to get the two-year deal he was apparently still seeking earlier this month. But a one-year deal worth, say, $7-$9 million? That feels doable.
Lorezen had a strange season in 2023. He was an All-Star with the Detroit Tigers, but really only because every team needs to be represented at the midsummer classic. He threw a no-hitter in his second start with the Phillies, but was largely ineffective after that. Nonetheless, it’s hard to believe that a pitcher who logged a career-high 153 innings a year ago has struggled to find a home.
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Bawb Eff
March 15, 2024 at 7:34 am
Lorenzen is kind of a strange cat. On the Reds I remember he played the OF sometimes and even hit a few bombs. I wonder what his career woulda looked like if he had chosen full-time position player over pitcher?