San Diego Padres Linked to Another Pair of Former All-Star Starters on Free Agent Market
After recently being linked to free agent starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, the San Diego Padres are now being linked to veteran free agents Michael Lorenzen and Noah Syndergaard as well.
Per a report from the San Diego Union-Tribune:
Signing one of the journeyman starters in which they have shown interest — such as Michael Lorenzen or Noah Syndergaard — could help fill the gap. Lorenzen made 25 starts and threw 153 innings last season; Syndergaard made 18 starts and threw 88⅔ innings
The Padres are in the market for starters after seeing Blake Snell depart in free agency and Nick Martinez sign with the Reds. Furthermore, Seth Lugo left to sign a deal with the Royals.
The 32-year-old Lorenzen is coming off a season in which he helped the Philadelphia Phillies get to the NLCS a season ago after he was traded midseason from the Detroit Tigers.
Lorenzen actually made the All-Star team last year as a member of the Tigers and ended up finishing the season at 9-9 with a 4.18 ERA.
He is a nine-year veteran who has played with the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, Tigers and Phillies. He's 40-38 with a 4.11 ERA in his career. He would offer the Padres some rotation stability.
As for Syndergaard, he's seen his star (and production) fade in recent years. Once one of the best young pitchers in baseball, he debuted with the New York Mets in 2015 and made the All-Star team in 2016. He stayed in New York through the 2021 season and then has spent time with the Angels, Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians since then.
Lifetime, he's 59-47 with a 3.71 ERA. He hasn't thrown at least 150 innings in a season since 2019. He's now 31 years old but recent reports indicated he was throwing 93-95 mph in workouts for teams.
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