MLB trade rumors: Astros, Rays target All-Star Michael Lorenzen at deadline

Jamie Squire/Getty Images The Houston Astros and the Tampa Bay Rays are a match for the Detroit Tigers, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network Starting pitcher Michael Lorenson is one of the teams interested. The 31-year-old is 4-6 with a 3.49 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 100.2 innings in 16 starts. He represented the Tigers in this year’s All-Star Game. The right-hander has been stellar over his past three starts, throwing 18.2 winless innings during that stretch. He had just taken the Kansas City Royals to seven innings in a 3-0 win Thursday. Lorenzen played his first seven seasons with the Cincinnati Reds before joining the Los Angeles Angels last year. He signed with the Tigers in free agency last December. He served as a starter in his first season and then in a backup role from 2016-2021. Lorenzen, once again a starter for the Angels, is 8-6 with a 4.24 ERA (1.28 WHIP) and 85 strikeouts in 93.2 innings (18 starts). Now he’s doing well for the Tigers, who have stayed in the AL Central despite a 44-52 record. They are just five games behind the Minnesota Twins in the standings and will likely hold a spot in the division because no one can escape that fact. But there is a lot of interest in soon-to-be free agent Lorenzen, who signed a one-year, $8.5 million deal last offseason. We’ll see if the Tigers make it to the playoffs, or become sellers before the August 1 trade deadline soon. For now, Lorenzen remains in Detroit, which is 5-2 since the All-Star break.