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Kyle Lohse

Rangers Interested In Kyle Lohse

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If the Angels wish to bolster their depleted rotation by adding free agent Kyle Lohse, they might face competition from a familiar foe, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who tweets that the AL West rival Rangers are also interested in the 37-year-old. Heyman adds that there may be other clubs in pursuit, too, on the heels of the right-hander’s Thursday showcase.

The Rangers aren’t in need of rotation help as much as the Angels, as Texas’ starters have so far pitched to a 3.48 ERA – the seventh-best mark in the majors. They’re seventh from the bottom in both FIP and xFIP, however, and right-hander A.J. Griffin may have opened up a spot in the rotation when he left his start in the third inning Saturday with stiffness in his throwing shoulder. While Griffin has fared well early this season with a 2.94 ERA, 7.49 K/9 and 3.74 BB/9 in 33 2/3 innings, injuries are nothing new for the 28-year-old – who missed the previous two campaigns because of elbow and shoulder troubles.

If Griffin’s current injury proves serious, it would leave the Rangers with Cole Hamels, Martin Perez, Derek Holland and Colby Lewis as their top four starters. The only member of that group worth counting on is Hamels, which could be why the Rangers are turning their attention outward. Lohse doesn’t exactly look like a cure-all, though, having posted a 5.85 ERA, 6.4 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and 38.6 percent ground-ball rate in 152 innings with Milwaukee last season. He did produce a respectable 3.62 ERA/3.86 FIP/4.10 xFIP in 888 1/3 frames from 2010-14, and the Rangers would certainly hope to get that version of Lohse if they were to sign him.

Regardless of whether Texas lands Lohse, its rotation will get a significant boost soon with the return of ace Yu Darvish, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since August 2014. Darvish, on the comeback trail from March 2015 Tommy John surgery, threw a 50-pitch rehab outing for Triple-A Round Rock on Friday and touched 97 mph several times, according to Anthony Andro of MLB.com. Darvish is on track to rejoin the Rangers either later this month or in early June.

Latest On The Angels’ Rotation

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The Angels were at Kyle Lohse’s recent showcase, Jon Heyman writes (Twitter links). Heyman also notes that they have considered Tim Lincecum, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle and others had previously noted.

There’s no indication yet that the Angels’ interest in either player is serious, although their connection to two veteran starters is still worth noting, given their apparent need for rotation help. Angels starters Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney both have UCL damage, and Richards, at least, will require Tommy John surgery. The injuries leave the Angels’ rotation thin, and as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times points out, the Angels’ trades of prospects Sean Newcomb and Chris Ellis last season and their poorly rated farm system will make it difficult to trade for a good starting pitcher.

That leaves them as logical suitors for pitchers like Lohse and Lincecum who remain on the free agent market. Lohse, who had a showcase yesterday, posted a 5.85 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in an ugly 2015 season with Milwaukee but was reasonably successful in the four seasons prior to that. What Lincecum might be able to contribute as he returns from hip surgery is unclear, but he’s still fairly young, at 31, and was once a superstar.

With Richards, Heaney and C.J. Wilson unavailable, the Angels’ rotation currently consists of Jered Weaver, Hector Santiago and Nick Tropeano. Cory Rasmus, normally a reliever, started Friday night, although he allowed five runs over just 2 1/3 innings. Nate Smith or Matt Shoemaker, both currently with the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, could also be candidates to take big-league starts, as DiGiovanna notes. Tyler Skaggs is also on a rehab assignment with the Bees, although he was shut down two weeks ago with biceps tendinitis and has not pitched since.

Quick Hits: Pohlad, La Russa, Lohse, CBA

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The Twins’ miserable start to the season is the result of a “total system failure” rather than any individual’s performance, club owner Jim Pohlad tells Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Pohlad says that GM Terry Ryan “is the right guy” to run the baseball operations department, while skipper Paul Molitor “has our total support.” The owner rejected the idea that more money would have done much good, saying: “I don’t believe that the money thing has been a constraint on the team’s success.” And he doesn’t seem to believe that the choices made with the funding were ill-considered. “We’ve been at this for a little while … the owner can’t do a whole lot,” he explained. “But what could Terry do? Or what could Paul do? I just don’t know at this point. It’s just a total system failure, so to speak.”

Here are a few more stray notes from around the game:

  • Things haven’t been quite as ugly for the Diamondbacks, but Arizona probably had higher expectations after its major winter moves. The fault doesn’t lie at the feet of manager Chip Hale, the organization’s chief baseball officer, Tony La Russa, tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. La Russa rejected the notion that Hale’s job is at risk if Arizona can’t pull itself back together. He joined GM Dave Stewart in noting that righty Shelby Miller has been “pushing and pressing too much,” with the rest of the staff otherwise doing well enough. “There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic,” said La Russa. “We’ve got some good depth and a lot of versatility on the roster. Some of our young guys have really showed up well.”
  • We’ve heard a lot of chatter about Tim Lincecum, but another veteran right-hander — Kyle Lohse — is also preparing to sign. He put on a showcase of his own today, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports on Twitter. While Lohse doesn’t have Lincecum’s relative youth or Cy Young pedigree, he has been a rather solid and durable pitcher for quite some time and remains an interesting possibility for teams in need of rotation depth, even at 37 years of age.
  • Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters today that he hopes to reach a new CBA before the end of the playing season this year, as Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com was among those to tweet. He certainly seemed to present an optimistic view of the negotiating path that has begun between the league and union.

AL East Notes: Mirabelli, Bautista, Kiermaier, Lohse

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Tim Healey of The Hardball Times paints a fascinating portrait of an oddball deal in a deep look at the Red Sox’ 2006 re-acquisition of catcher Doug Mirabelli from the Padres. Truth be told, I don’t have any observations on the piece other than that it demands to be read and is well worth your time.

Here are a few notes from the AL East:

  • MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that while he believes Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista would take less than his reported asking price of more than $150MM over five to six years, he doesn’t believe Bautista would entertain any offers for less than $100MM. Bautista’s alleged asking price was the source of a great deal of controversy in Spring Training, and while $150MM+ doesn’t seem particularly realistic, he would probably have a strong case for $100MM on the open market this winter. Bautista may be 35, but he’s been remarkably consistent since his 2010 breakout and is off to a strong start, batting .247/.394/.519 with four homers and an AL-leading 20 walks drawn.
  • In other extension-related news, the Rays have not seriously engaged with center fielder Kevin Kiermaier about a deal over the last several months, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). Nevertheless, Tampa Bay has given some indication of interest at some point. The 26-year-old seems like the type of player the Rays would target for a bargain contract, as he had only accumulated 1.131 years of service entering the season and is a glove-first player whose on-field value may not translate particularly well into arbitration earnings. Even if he can’t replicate last year’s magical season in the field, he seems like a good bet to continue as a solid asset for years to come. While it seems unlikely that the sides will get anything started in the near term, last year’s Juan Lagares extension looks like as good a comp as one could hope for. Lagares was the same age and featured a similar profile, though he was much more certain at the time to reach Super Two status (and, it’s fair to note, has done less with the bat in his career).
  • Even after adding veteran Wandy Rodriguez, the Orioles continue to stay in touch with righty Kyle Lohse, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports. As we’ve heard previously, Baltimore has made an offer to Lohse but, obviously, has yet to reach agreement. It’s still not clear what the 37-year-old is prioritizing in deciding upon a club with which to attempt a bounceback, but the O’s rotation certainly seems to offer a reasonable likelihood of opportunity over the coming months.

Orioles Have Made Offer To Kyle Lohse; Reds, Tigers Also Interested

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5:18pm: Detroit does not appear to have present interest in Lohse, Chris Iott of MLive.com tweets.

4:47pm: Free agent right-hander Kyle Lohse is drawing interest from the Tigers, Reds and Orioles, and Baltimore has made an offer to the Scott Boras client, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). It’s not known whether the 37-year-old has received any other contract offers.

Lohse hit the open market after arguably the worst season of his career — the final campaign of a three-year, $33MM deal with the Brewers. Though Lohse had logged a 3.28 ERA in his four prior seasons combined (796 1/3 innings), his production evaporated entirely, as he lost his spot in the rotation following a 6.31 ERA over his first 124 innings (22 starts). Lohse was said to take the demotion professionally and, to his credit, turned his season around to an extent once he was transferred to the bullpen. In 28 1/3 relief innings to close out 2015, Lohse posted a much more characteristic 3.81 ERA with 22 strikeouts against 13 walks.

Over 15 years in the majors, Lohse has worked to a 4.37 ERA. But his best work has come relatively late in his career; since 2008 (his age-29 season), that ERA is a much stronger 3.99 over 1358 1/3 innings. Teams looking at his potential to contribute even at a fairly advanced age will surely also note that Lohse has maintained his roughly 89 mph fastball velocity rather consistently, and has even managed to elevate his swinging strike rate over recent years (topping out at 9.1% last season). To some extent, his struggles in 2015 trace to an uncharacteristically high 15.3% HR/FB rate, a somewhat elevated .314 BABIP, and a 68.7% strand rate that fell below the league average of 73.4%.

Heyman notes that Lohse is looking for the “right fit,” though it’s not clear what exactly that would mean for him. Veterans in his situation could prioritize any number of factors, such as the promise of a rotation spot (or at least the opportunity to earn one in relatively short order), playing near their home, and/or signing with a team that is a postseason contender (to name a few). Wherever he ends up, Lohse seems likely to sign a minor league deal, which would allow him to head to Triple-A to see some work in a game setting, though he may not need to build up too much durability, as Heyman also tweets that Lohse has been throwing weekly simulated games that consist of 90 pitches.

Any of the three listed clubs makes some sense for Lohse. The Orioles have a questionable big league rotation, and while Lohse is hardly a lock to add any form of stability, he’d give Baltimore a much-needed depth option, as their collection of MLB-ready arms in the minors is limited. The Reds have a number of rotation options, but few that have much in the way of big league experience, and Lohse could help to shoulder the load. The Tigers, meanwhile, have a full rotation at the Major League level, but Mike Pelfrey has struggled early, and others such as Anibal Sanchez and Justin Verlander have dealt with injuries in recent seasons, so Lohse could serve as a depth option there as well.

AL East Notes: Swisher, Lohse, Davis, Rays

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Nick Swisher spoke to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News about his excitement over rejoining the Yankees organization. “There’s no place I love more than New York,” said Swisher. “I think a lot of people know that. … I’m one of those lucky guys that gets an opportunity to come back and try to prove myself again.” Swisher also talked with Feinsand about the difficulty of dealing with significant knee injuries in recent seasons and the jarring feeling of getting a phone call to inform him of his release in Atlanta. The 34-year-old firmly believes he’s capable of contributing in the Majors again and looks forward to working his way back to a Yankees uniform. “To have the first phone call come from the Yankees, a place you think of as family, it was amazing,” said Swisher. “For this to happen during such a dark time, it makes you want to work that much harder, to train and play that much harder.”

Elsewhere in the AL East…

  • The Orioles are among the clubs that hold interest in right-hander Kyle Lohse, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Baltimore’s 7-0 start to the season has drawn its fair share of headlines, but it’s worth noting that Ubaldo Jimenez is the only one of their starters to have topped five innings in an outing thus far. Bringing Lohse into the organization would provide the club with some veteran depth, although Lohse’s most recent work with the Brewers didn’t exactly inspire confidence that he’s still a quality big league option. The 37-year-old lost his rotation with the Brewers last season after recording a 6.31 ERA in 22 starts. Lohse did appear to turn it around somewhat upon his move to the bullpen, logging a 3.81 ERA in 28 1/3 innings of work.
  • Chris Davis tells the Boston Herald’s Chris Mason that the Red Sox had interest in him over the winter before he re-signed in Baltimore. “I pretty much tried to stay out of it as much as I could and let my agent handle it, but I remember their name coming up a few times,” said Davis. “I don’t know how in depth they talked. I don’t know if it was just a feeler or what was going on.” As Mason notes, the immediate fit might not be optimal, but with Hanley Ramirez perhaps sliding to designated hitter next season following David Ortiz’s retirement, it’s easy enough to see how Davis could’ve fit into the club’s plans beyond the 2016 campaign.
  • Never afraid to try something outside the box, the Rays have adopted the usage of virtual reality training for their hitters, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Rays batters have available to them a set of virtual reality goggles that allow them to stand at/near/behind the plate in the batting cage and watch a virtual simulation of that evening’s pitcher throwing to them. Steven Souza Jr. and Curt Casali both spoke very highly of the new tool, whereas Evan Longoria was optimistic about its benefits down the line but said he feels there’s room for improvement. “We’re looking forward to learning more about the technology and how it might benefit our players,” said Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman to Topkin. Topkin notes that the Rays aren’t the only club using the technology; the Pirates and “several” other teams have begun to experiment with it.
  • Rays right-hander Alex Cobb and Chase Whitley each made 20 throws from halfway up the bullpen mound on Tuesday, Topkin writes in a separate piece. Each will throw again on Friday and next Tuesday before moving to the top of the mound late next week. Cobb noted that while the news isn’t exciting, he and Whitley both considered it to be a big day in their rehab. Both right-handers are making their way back from Tommy John surgery that was performed in May of last season.

Tigers Among Teams Looking At Kyle Lohse

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11:11am: In addition to the Tigers, Heyman reports (via Twitter) that the Orioles, Rangers and Reds also attended Lohse’s recent showcase.  The O’s and Rangers would presumably also be looking at Lohse as experienced depth, though Baltimore’s rotation is unsettled enough that Lohse could have an opportunity at regular innings.  Cincinnati, meanwhile, is going with a very inexperienced group of starting candidates so Lohse could be a fit as a veteran innings eater.

9:33am: The Tigers “are emphasizing depth” in the starting rotation and have some interest in veteran righty Kyle Lohse, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).  Lohse is a client of Scott Boras, who has a well-documented connection with Tigers owner Mike Ilitch.

The Marlins were the only other club connected to the 37-year-old this winter, and the quiet rumor mill probably isn’t a surprise given Lohse’s age and his rough 2015 season.  He posted a 5.85 ERA and 6.4 K/9 over 152 1/3 innings with the Brewers, a performance that cost him his rotation job.  The largest issue seemed to be a 15.3% homer rate that was well above Lohse’s 10% career average, though a .314 BABIP and 68.7% strand rate also added to Lohse’s misfortune. While his ERA indicators (5.12 FIP, 4.48 xFIP, 4.43 SIERA) weren’t particularly impressive, they show that Lohse’s 5.85 ERA was at least a bit misleading.

Lohse is probably available on a minor league deal at this point, and he could provide some veteran depth for a rotation that has had a couple of injury question marks.  Anibal Sanchez recently pitched his first outing of camp on Monday after battling triceps inflammation this spring, and Daniel Norris recently left a start due to tightness in his lower back.  Justin Verlander, Jordan Zimmermann, Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey are penciled in as Detroit’s top four starters, with Shane Greene, Matt Boyd and Buck Farmer all battling Norris for the fifth starter’s job (and potentially a spot outing for Sanchez if he isn’t able to make his first start of the regular season).

Marlins Still Interested In Veteran Starter

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JAN. 21: In addition to the names mentioned yesterday, right-hander Kyle Lohse is also a consideration for the Marlins, Heyman tweets. The 37-year-old Lohse’s name has scarcely been mentioned this winter, as the veteran struggled through one of the worst seasons of his career in 2015, posting a 5.85 ERA in 152 1/3 innings. Lohse displayed solid (albeit somewhat diminished) control and didn’t see any sort of dip in velocity, but he was plagued by a decreased strand rate and spikes in his homer-to-flyball rate and BABIP.

JAN. 20: The Marlins still have interest in adding a veteran starter, as Jon Heyman notes on Twitter and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported this morning. Doug Fister and Alfredo Simon are possible names under consideration, as are rehabbing hurlers Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum.

Certainly, those pitchers represent two of the most accomplished veteran bounceback candidates who remain on the market. Fister and Mat Latos have long been considered the class of the rebound hopefuls, but it seems safe to say the latter won’t be coming back to Miami after his brief run there in 2015.

We haven’t heard much on Simon this winter, but Fister is said to be seeking a two-year deal in the $22MM range. Drawing either pitcher will likely require not only some guaranteed money, but also an appealing opportunity.

It’s not clear how far the Fish will extend themselves to bring in another option, and Jackson suggests that the ballclub is looking for a low-cost investment. If that doesn’t happen, he says, then the organization is prepared to move on with what it has.

That makes sense, as Miami has already added a veteran pitcher in Edwin Jackson who’s had success in the past but needed an opportunity in the present. Obviously, the signing of Wei-Yin Chen went a long way toward shoring up the top of the staff. And the team still has a solid inventory of internal depth options.

Kyle Lohse To Be Placed On Revocable Waivers

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With the non-waiver trade deadline in the past, teams now must pass players through revocable trade waivers in order to freely shop them around the league. The specifics of the August trading process are expanded upon in our August trade primer, for those who are unfamiliar with how it works.

We’ll run down today’s list of players that are reported to be on revocable trade waivers here…

  • The Brewers will place right-hander Kyle Lohse on revocable waivers in the hope that someone will claim the remaining ~$3.55MM on his 2015 salary, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). That’s an unlikely outcome, especially when considering Lohse’s struggles this season. The veteran Lohse was shifted from the rotation to the bullpen yesterday, with MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy noting that it “sounds like” the Brewers are attempting to trade him. If Lohse clears waivers, the Brewers will be free to trade him to any team, though I’d imagine they’d have to assume a sizable portion of the remaining salary to find any serious takers. Lohse was very good in his first two seasons with the Brewers but has a 6.21 ERA in 124 innings this season. His velocity remains unchanged, but he’s been exceptionally homer-prone. For what it’s worth, xFIP and SIERA both peg him for a more serviceable 4.37 mark.

Brewers Move Kyle Lohse To Bullpen, May Seek Trade

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The Brewers have shifted struggling veteran Kyle Lohse to the bullpen, reports MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. McCalvy says that Lohse handled the disheartening news well, and while the right-hander didn’t go into detail, it “sounds like” the Brewers are trying to trade him. GM Doug Melvin did discuss Lohse with other teams prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, but nothing materialized, he adds. Via McCalvy, Lohse had the following to say about his move to a relief role:

“That’s where I’ll be residing for the time being, and we’ll just kind of see what options there are, and we’ll go from there. All that stuff is out of my hands, but [the Brewers have] been good to me. Stuck through a pretty tough year and gave me the opportunity to go out there every five days until now. It didn’t work out.”

The 36-year-old Lohse is in the final season of a three-year, $33MM contract signed with the Brewers in Spring Training of the 2013 season. Lohse proved to be a very good value in the first two seasons of the pact, tossing 397 innings with a 3.45 ERA, 6.0 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a 40.1 percent ground-ball rate. Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference both agreed that he was worth roughly five to six wins over the first two years of the deal, with the latter being a bit more bullish.

The 2015 season, though, has been an entirely different story. Lohse has pitched to a 6.31 ERA in 124 innings this season. He leads the National League in both hits allowed (152) and earned runs (87). The 25 homers he’s yielded are already just three shy of his career-worst 28, despite the fact that he pitched 194 innings when he allowed 28 all the way back in 2004.

McCalvy also notes that the Brewers could simply end up releasing Lohse if they’re unable to find a taker, as they did with veterans Randy Wolf and Jeff Suppan at the tail end of their Milwaukee tenures. Given the fact that Lohse is owed $3.6MM of his $11MM salary through the end of the season, the Brewers would need to eat all or nearly all of the money remaining in order to make a deal happen. Asked if he still intended to pitch beyond the 2015 in spite of this year’s struggles, Lohse answered in the affirmative. “Obviously I’m not ready to hang it up yet,” he said. “The stuff’s still there, [the problem was] just the execution or whatever it was this year.”

While that may strike some as a curious statement given his struggles, it should be noted that Lohse’s velocity, though not overpowering (89.4 mph fastball) is nearly identical to the 89.6 mph he averaged back in 2010 with the Cardinals. Whatever difficulties he’s experienced, it would seem, aren’t due to a decline in arm strength.

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