Free agent with unique skillset could help the Blue Jays on both sides of the ball

Throughout the current offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays have been rumoured to be in the mix for many big-name star free agents. Whether it was Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Alex Bregman or even Teoscar Hernández, without a doubt they should ultimately provide some enormous impact on whatever team they ended up landing with. 

But lost in all the hoopla are some intriguing free agents that may actually be worth pursuing for the Jays. Among them include one that has a unique skillset that could even help address Toronto’s need for both pitching and offensive help. That free agent candidate is none other than Michael Lorenzen.

Free agent with unique skillset could help the Blue Jays on both sides of the ball

Many may already know Lorenzen as a veteran that has spent over 10 years pitching in the league. Especially now after coming off a solid 2024 campaign in which he posted a 7-6 record with a 3.31 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, along with 97 strikeouts in 130.1 innings pitched. More notably, Lorenzen showed that he could be a big-game pitcher down the stretch after he was traded by the Texas Rangers to the Kansas City Royals. With the Royals, he compiled a 2-0 record with a stellar 1.57 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 22 strikeouts in 28.2 innings of work in his final seven games of the year. That kind of clutch performance in itself would already make him an attractive free agent piece this offseason.

But what most didn’t know was the fact that Lorenzen is actually a decent hitter as well. During his time with the Cincinnati Reds between 2015 to 2021, he amassed a .233 batting average, .710 OPS with 20 runs scored, seven home runs, 24 RBI and five stolen bases over 147 career plate appearances. If projecting that over an entire 162-game schedule where Lorenzen would see close to 600 plate appearances, that would mean close to 80 runs scored, 28 home runs, 96 RBI and 20 stolen bases worth of production. With those numbers, he would find himself ranked among some of the elite hitters in the league.

As a result, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required), Lorenzen and his agent Ryan Hamill is considering to use his potential two-way ability as his selling point in the free agent market. In doing so, he would join Shohei Ohtani as the only two “two-way” players in the league and could thus help a ballclub on both sides of the field. More importantly, Lorenzen will definitely NOT cost the $700 million needed to land Ohtani and could provide surprising value to any contender looking to boost both their offense and pitching at the same time without blowing the bank.

With the Blue Jays missing out previously on Ohtani last season, perhaps getting “Ohtani-lite” this season in Lorenzen wouldn’t be such a bad consolation prize after all.