With free agency now in full swing, the offseason is officially heating up. The general managers meetings in Scottsdale Ariz., last week marked the start of the hot stove season, and now that several starting pitchers — Aaron Nola (Philadelphia Phillies), Reynaldo Lopez (Atlanta Braves), and Lance Lynn (St. Louis Cardinals) — have signed contracts, the dominoes should begin to fall.
One of the hottest names on the market is former San Diego Padres and New York Mets pitcher Seth Lugo. The 34-year-old is coming off his first season of being a full-time starter after spending several years as one of the top relievers in the National League with the Mets. Lugo pitched to a 3.57 ERA over 136.1 innings (26 starts) while striking out 23.2 percent of the batters he faced this past season.
According to MLB Network Insider Jon Morosi, the Detroit Tigers are a team worth watching for Lugo. So perhaps Lugo, who posted a 3.35 ERA over his final 18 starts this past season, could make his way over to the American League, as Detroit looks to replace Eduardo Rodriguez’s presence in the rotation. They already tried to do so by checking in with Lynn, but obviously, that was no to no avail, as he signed a pact with the Cardinals on Monday.
The Tigers are looking closely at the FA starting pitching market and checked in on Lance Lynn before he signed with the Cardinals.
Seth Lugo is another name of interest to Detroit. Lugo, 34, posted a 3.35 ERA over his final 18 starts this year.@MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 20, 2023
Lugo does present himself as a decent fallback option, though.
In addition to Rodriguez opting out of his deal, the Tigers elected to not tender Spencer Turnbull a contract, so Detroit is in need of some rotation reinforcements to pair with the likes of Tarik Skubal, Reese Olson, Matt Manning and Casey Mize, among others.
It remains to be seen where Lugo ultimately ends up, but there’s a decent chance it could be in Detroit.
