Chicago White Sox Reportedly Interested in Veteran Free Agent Michael Lorenzen

Should the Chicago White Sox decide to trade ace Dylan Cease to the Texas Rangers or New York Yankees, veteran Michael Lorenzen could take his spot in the rotation.

The Chicago White Sox are interested in signing right-handed pitcher Michael Lorenzen, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Tuesday.

Rosenthal addressed the connection in reference to the White Sox potentially trading ace Dylan Cease to either the Texas Rangers or New York Yankees. If Chicago ends up shipping Cease out of town, Rosenthal suggested that Lorenzen could replace him in their rotation.

The Yankees are another team that could be interested in Lorenzen, per Rosenthal. The San Diego Padres were also linked to Lorenzen in February, a few weeks after he and fellow free agent Noah Syndergaard worked out in front of 16 MLB teams.

Last week, Rosenthal reported that Lorenzen was looking for a two-year deal worth somewhere in the ballpark of $20 million in guaranteed money.

The 32-year-old Lorenzen has spent the majority of his career as a relief pitcher after debuting as a starter for the Cincinnati Reds in 2015. He spent the following six seasons coming out of Cincinnati's bullpen.

Lorenzen started 18 games for the Los Angeles Angels in 2022, then another 18 for the Detroit Tigers in 2023. He got sent to the Philadelphia Phillies at last summer's trade deadline, starting another seven games down the stretch and throwing a no-hitter on Aug. 9.

For his career, Lorenzen is 40-38 with a 4.11 ERA, 1.325 WHIP and 9.4 WAR. He is 17-15 with a 4.20 ERA, 1.237 WHIP and 3.0 WAR over the last two seasons, and he made his first career All-Star appearance in 2023.

If the White Sox were to trade away Cease and replace him with Lorenzen, they would have four new starters in their five-man rotation entering 2024. Chicago signed Erick Fedde and Chris Flexen in December, shortly after they traded for Michael Soroka, while Michael Kopech would be in line to be the lone incumbent.

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