The Brent Rooker extension was not the only deal around baseball in the last half-day that merits a mention …
So much for the plan to have Michael Lorenzen sign with a crap team, get some plate appearances, and become two-way eligible for a trade partner (which would essentially allow that partner to carry 14 pitchers):Right-hander Michael Lorenzen and the Kansas City Royals are in agreement on a one-year, $7 million contract, sources tell ESPN. Lorenzen, 33, was excellent down the stretch, and the deal includes a second-year mutual option for $12 million. Versatile arm, great clubhouse guy.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 6, 2025 The Royals do not figure to be a club that (1) has 60 throwaway plate appearances to give Lorenzen in the first half, or (2) will definitely be selling at the deadline. So this is just a traditional signing of a pitcher who was pretty darn good for the Royals last year, and who has been a slightly-better-than-average-results swing guy for the last three years. Pretty cheap deal for a guy like that, which is presumably reflective of his mediocre peripherals and declining velo. The Rangers signed old friend Chris Martin to a one-year deal, though the terms are not yet out. Martin, 38, has kinda been great the last six years after a late-career breakout as an MLB reliever, and he paired a 27.8% K rate last season with a 1.7% (REAL NUMBER) walk rate. He did miss time with an elbow injury, so there’s probably a little extra risk at his age, but he could still be very effective. Is this more evidence that the Rangers are moving on from any or all of Kirby Yates, Jose Leclerc, and David Robertson, any of whom could be Cubs targets? Another briefly-an-old-friend, Trey Wingenter, is headed to Japan. The 30-year-old righty with great stuff, but just not quite enough to stick in the bigs, is signing with the Seibu Lions. Given the upside teams have seen in him, it wouldn’t be shocking if he’s one of those guys who goes over there and dominates for a couple years and then tries to come back. The Reds, who traded for Gavin Lux in a more significant deal yesterday, also acquired former top Rangers pitching prospect Owen White for cash (he’d been DFA’d, so the Reds probably just paid a little extra to jump to the front of the waiver line). White has struggled badly the last couple years at both the MLB and Triple-A levels, but he’s got a minor league option year remaining and is just 25. With the only real cost being the 40-man spot, you could understand a club wanting to take a look. The Brewers are bringing back 1B/OF/DH Jake Bauers on a minor league deal, and he may once again see a lot of time at first base paired with Rhys Hoskins if he makes the team. It was a disappointing year in 2024 for both of those guys, though Bauers cost a whole heck of a lot less. Bauers, 29, seems to be perpetually a guy that teams are dreaming on, having spent parts of five big league seasons with five different MLB teams, despite hitting .208/.302/.361/84 wRC+ over 1744 PAs as a bat-only guy. How do you get so many chances with so many orgs despite never actually producing results? Well, it’s a combination of him batting lefty, having hit well in the upper minors when he was a little younger, and then having shown a huge barrel rate in a small sample with the Yankees in 2023. He pretty clearly has the ability to do a lot of damage, he just hasn’t ever quite pulled it off. Read More Details
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