Former Phillies pitcher contracts with World Series champions for far less than he wanted.
Michael Lorenzen has signed to a one-year agreement with the Texas Rangers for substantially less than he was anticipating.
Former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Michael Lorenzen agreed to a late-night/early-morning deal with the Texas Rangers after making headlines earlier this week in free agency.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and MLB on FOX, Lorenzen and the reigning World Series winners have agreed to a one-year contract for $4.5 million. The agreement is subject to a physical and includes up to $2.5 million in incentives. Overall, Lorenzen might earn up to $7 million. The Rangers have not verified or made the signing official at this time.
The 32-year-old will most likely join the Rangers’ bullpen as a long man and rotation depth if required. Roster Resource forecasts he’ll be Texas’ ninth reliever this season. With Opening Day about a week away, the Rangers are now without Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. According to MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry, the rotation consists of Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning, and Cody Bradford, with the depth decreasing from there.
Lorenzen’s free-agent journey has finally over.
As Rosenthal wrote for The Athletic on March 5, the short-term Phillie was looking for a two-year contract worth $20 million. As we have seen in recent weeks, players left on the free agent market.
have had to accept smaller agreements than originally intended. Lorenzen had little chance if major names like Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, and Cody Bellinger had to accept less money and a shorter contract.
Following Gerrit Cole’s injury news, the New York Yankees allegedly expressed interest in the right-hander. Jon Heyman of the New York Post claimed that the Yankees checked in on Lorenzen, but that was all we knew.
Lorenzen, who is entering his tenth MLB season, will want to rebound off a dismal showing with the Phillies down the stretch. After making two excellent starts in Philadelphia, including the franchise’s 14th no-hitter, things went bad. He had an 8.01 ERA in his last nine outings, which were split between the rotation and the bullpen.
Overall, he had a 5.51 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and only 28 strikeouts in 47 1/3 regular-season innings for the Phillies. In the postseason, the 32-year-old tossed 2 2/3 innings, allowing a couple of hits and walks but no runs.
