Monday, February 18, 2013
Finding a home for Lohse
By Jason Catania
Last week, FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal wrote that right-hander Kyle Lohse was almost certain to sign soon. The operative phrase in that sentence, though, is "last week," because it's now several days later, and Lohse remains a free agent.
At this stage, with spring training underway, time is running out and every single day without a team puts more pressure on the 34-year-old Lohse and agent Scott Boras to get a deal done.
As we know all too well by now, Lohse will cost the signing club a first-round draft pick, unless that team drafts in the Top 10 or has already surrendered its pick for signing another free agent tied to a qualifying offer. One such team?The Washington Nationals, who lost their selection after inking Rafael Soriano this winter.
Funny enough, then, that the Nats have been linked to Lohse in recent weeks, and FanGraphs' Mike Petriello writes for ESPN Insider that Washington would do well to sign Lohse. The idea behind such a move would be to shift lefty Ross Detwiler from rotation to bullpen, which currently lacks a left-hander following the departures of Sean Burnett, Tom Gorzelanny and Mike Gonzalez.
Other teams that have been mentioned as possible fits for Lohse are the St. Louis Cardinals, who are dealing with the recent loss of Chris Carpenter for 2013 (and perhaps beyond), as well as the Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Angels and Milwaukee Brewers, each of whom could use a quality mid-rotation arm to bolster their five-mans.
ESPN.com's Jim Bowden predicted last week that Lohse will sign with either the Brewers or the Texas Rangers.
