After appearing in free agent news earlier this week, former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Michael Lorenzen reached a late-night/early-morning agreement with the Texas Rangers.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and MLB on FOX, Lorenzen and the reigning World Series champions are inking a one-year contract worth $4.5 million. The deal is pending a physical and includes up to $2.5 million in incentives. Lorenzen could earn up to $7 million, all told. The Rangers haven't confirmed or made the signing official at this time.
The 32-year-old will likely slot into the Rangers bullpen as a long man and rotation depth if needed. Roster Resource predicts he'll be the eighth reliever Texas carries into the season. With Opening Day just one week away, the Rangers are currently without Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. The rotation consists of Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning, and Cody Bradford, with the depth falling off after that, per MLB.com's Kennedi Landry.
Free-agent right-hander Michael Lorenzen in agreement with Rangers on one-year, $4.5M contract, pending physical, source tells @TheAthletic. Deal includes $2.5M in incentives, maxes out at $7M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 21, 2024
Lorenzen's free-agent ordeal is finally over
As Rosenthal reported for The Athletic on March 5, the short-tenured Phillie had been seeking a two-year contract worth $20 million (subscription required). As we've seen in recent weeks, players left on the free agent market have had to take smaller deals than initially desired. If big names like Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, and Cody Bellinger had to take less money and less term, Lorenzen didn't stand a chance.
The right-hander was reportedly a player of interest for the New York Yankees after Gerrit Cole's injury news came out. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the Yankees checked in on Lorenzen, but that was all we heard of that.
Heading into his 10th MLB season, Lorenzen will try to recover from his poor performance down the stretch with the Phillies. After starting his time in Philadelphia with a couple of impressive starts, including the franchise's 14th no-hitter, things went downhill. He posted an 8.01 ERA over his last nine appearances, split between the rotation and bullpen.
Overall, he finished with a 5.51 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and just 28 strikeouts in 47 1/3 regular-season innings for the Phillies. The 32-year-old threw 2 2/3 innings in the postseason, giving up a pair of hits and walks, but he didn't surrender a run.