Right-hander Michael Lorenzen and the Colorado Rockies are in agreement on a one-year, $8 million contract with a club option, sources told ESPN on Wednesday, marking the first free agent signing under new president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta.
Lorenzen, 34, is a versatile veteran entering his 12th season. Capable of pitching effectively out of the rotation or bullpen, he has operated effectively in both roles, though his starting bona fides made him attractive to a Rockies team in full rebuild mode.
Colorado's annual winter inactivity was given a temporary reprieve with the addition of Lorenzen, which is pending a physical. His 2026 salary of $7.75 million nearly matches his career high of $8.5 million in 2023, and the deal includes a team option in 2027 for $9 million with a $250,000 buyout.
In Lorenzen, the Rockies get a top-tier athlete -- he slugged four home runs in 2018 and played 34 games in the outfield for Cincinnati earlier in his career -- with a six-pitch arsenal and excellent command. Though Lorenzen's raw stuff does not grade well on teams' analytics models, his ability to get outs despite lower strikeout rates drew interest in both starting and relief roles.
Lorenzen preferred to start and will do so for a Rockies team coming off a 43-119 season with little hope of avoiding 100 losses again this coming season. Following the firing of general manager Bill Schmidt, the Rockies poached DePodesta -- a former Los Angeles Dodgers GM -- from his position as chief strategy officer of the NFL's Cleveland Browns.
He inherits a team deficient in talent at the big league level and lacking in its farm system as well. Deals for players such as Lorenzen are value bets, with the hope that he can find himself among the few pitchers capable of succeeding at Coors Field. Were Lorenzen to come closer to his 2024 season than 2025, when he posted a 4.64 ERA over 141⅔ innings for Kansas City, the Rockies could have a solid trade option at the deadline.
Lorenzen joins Kyle Freeland, Chase Dollander and Ryan Feltner as the likely top four starters, with Tanner Gordon, Bradley Blalock and McCade Brown all contenders for the fifth spot after seasons in which they posted ERAs of 6.33 or higher.
The Rockies' 2025 pitching staff was one of the worst in baseball history, posting a 5.99 ERA as a staff -- the third-worst mark by a team since World War II.
