Free agent right-hander Jake Odorizzi is healthy and looking for a deal, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The righty reportedly threw off a mound in front of evaluators representing about a third of the clubs in the league. The Twins were one club that were there watching, per Darren Wolfson of SKOR North, though their interest level is unclear.
Odorizzi, 34 next month, is coming off an entirely missed season. He was traded from Atlanta to Texas at the end of the 2022 campaign after triggering a player option. Atlanta agreed to pay down $10MM of the $12.5MM salary on that player option, leaving Texas to pay just $2.5MM. But that money ended up wasted, as Odorizzi dealt with some arm fatigue in Spring Training and ultimately required a season-ending arthroscopic procedure on his right shoulder.
His offers will undoubtedly be limited after that lost season and shoulder injury, but it could also present a buy-low opportunity for clubs if any of them are encouraged by his health. Odorizzi has spent many years in the big leagues as a solid mid-rotation guy, having made 241 appearances since his 2012 debut, 237 of those being starts. His 1,253 1/3 innings have seen him allow 3.99 earned runs per nine, striking out 22.2% of batters faced while walking 8.1%.
Various clubs around the league are working with tighter budgets this winter due to uncertainty regarding the broadcast revenue situation, with one of those being the Twins. They opened last year with a payroll of $153MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, but are reportedly trying to get that down to the $125-140MM range for this year’s opener.
They are currently at $124MM, per Roster Resource, but with a clearly diminished rotation. Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle all reached free agency and signed with other clubs. Chris Paddack returned from his Tommy John surgery absence late last year and could make up for those losses somewhat and the Twins acquired Anthony DeSclafani from the Mariners, but the overall group is clearly less inspiring than it was a year ago. Reporting from earlier today suggested that the club is still looking to add to their starting mix.
The Twins clearly know and like Odorizzi, as he pitched for them from 2018 to 2020. If they feel he can get back to where he was during that time, a low-cost flier would make plenty of sense. The Twins were just one club present to watch Odorizzi throw and there are plenty of others who could be a fit.
The Padres have also been slashing payroll and have lost Blake Snell, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Rich Hill and Nick Martínez to free agency. Snell is still out there but the club’s tight budget makes it unlikely they’ll get him back or sign any other big name. The Rays have a payroll that is set to be a franchise record and they could use some more pitching. Like the Twins, they are familiar with Odorizzi from a previous stint, as he was with Tampa from 2013 to 2017. Just about any club could use an extra bit of pitching depth and Spring Training always leads to injuries that will only exacerbate those needs.
The big question will naturally be Odorizzi’s health. Beyond the recent shoulder procedure and long layoff, he’s had other issues. In 2021, he went on the injured list due to a right pronator muscle strain and some right foot soreness, whereas the 2022 season saw him miss time due to lower left leg discomfort. He topped out just over 100 innings in both of those campaigns. Thanks to those injuries and the pandemic, he hasn’t had anything close to a full starter’s workload since 2019. But he was fairly steady prior to that, tossing between 140 and 190 innings in six straight years from 2014 to 2019. His ERA finished between 3.35 and 4.49 in each of those campaigns.
IF Healthy, Jake should have a lot of gas left in the tank.
He is just as good as most of the remaining starting pitchers still on the market.
Pencil him in for 80 innings pitched
All the gas left in his tank is inert.
maybe just 60 IP
I don’t think so. There’s no harm in a team taking a low cost flyer, but I don’t think he has much left to offer.
Gotta be a minor league deal, right? Twins can bring him back. Worst case, he fills the Keuchel role this season.
I would take Odorizzi ahead of Thor or Lance Lynn.
Ok, I concede that I would take a vegan grilled cheese sandwich over Thor or Lance Lynn.
Hey!! Vegan cheese has come a long way in the past few years, unlike Thor. I’ve had a some awesome vegan grilled cheeses. Which contain less cholesterol than a regular grilled cheese, or lance Lynn’s big toe.
The word vegan has never been used in the same sentence with Lance Lynn ever
I forgot this guy existed.
He has a side hustle/gig/moonlight job (trying to cover all the demographics, sorry I don’t know Hieroglyphics) doing State Farm commercials – Cameo apperance in Deadpool 3 I think
He’s from around st. Louis. Saw this kid pitch in high school, absolutely dominant. Would like to see the cards throw him a bone as some depth that I’m sure they will need as most of their starters are up in age. He’d probably come home for the minimum
So because of their old starting rotation, the solution for depth is to add more old pitching? I’m not in any way bashing your comment, it’s just a bit confusing. Do the cardinals not have any young guys/ prospects that could fill the rotation should the need arise?
@bravessaintscelts. Cardinals are pretty doodoo at developing their own pitching. Dakota Hudson and Jake Woodford look awful. Once Liberatore left the rays he looked mediocre. Tink Hence needs to be traded before he becomes a cardinal development casualty.
I can see that
The NL team with the most World Series Championship.
Never been but I heard Cardinals fans (want to win) but are respectful, mostly. Cardinals would get the most out of his talent left, many other pitching coaches could also
Better than throwing for bars, but didn’t know he retired. Wish him the best of luck throwing for clubs. Gotta be a high cover charge to having an ex-MLer as a slideshow.
If he’s willing to take a low-cost one-year deal with incentives, I say sign him. Depth is always nice, and if he’s even remotely healthy, he can be at worst, a bullpen arm if he can’t be a starter.
Actually it is Atlanta that paid the 85% of his contract
Name him or your comment is bust. Atleast OD was a MLB player. Prospects haven’t done ut
Texas gave up Kolby Allard for him – and Allard had a worse bWAR than Odorizzi last season and Odorizzi didn’t even play.
The Braves developed allard traded him and then got him back to drop him. Don’t think Texas gave up much for OD but he’s still sserviceable.
Would be nice if the brewers signed him. They’re the ones who drafted him after all
Last year, he pitched to a 4.66 FRA which is not horrendous but given it was in just over 100 innings, it’s not that great.. Bit concerning that he’s off about 3.1 points from his K% last year (19) compared to his career (22.1) but his BB% is pretty consistent with the overall career. He might need to take a low cost deal with incentives or accept that his SP days are over and move to the pen.
He has the stuff to be a multi inning or ever high stress reliever just doesn’t have the gas for 6 anymore.
Marlins should sign Ordozzi. If he shows anything in Spring Training, they can trade another one of their starters.
Good target for a Mariner signing, giving him AAA time to put it together, with an opt-out if he’s not up by the All-Star break and pitching well. Gives the M’s some potentially strong MLB depth should one of their starters go down (pretty high likelihood).
Think He Fits With Arizona
too expensive for the Red Sox unless its a 2+ year minor league deal.
This has Red Sox written all over it
Forget Soler or Chapman, Snell or Montgomery – this is the kind of signing the Giants make…..
Twins minor league deal w incentives and spring training invite. We need SP….
Odor izzi stinky