The Orioles have started off the season with a perfect record over their first seven games, which doesn't mean that the team, particularly the starting rotation, is perfect. There is always room for improvement, and even when there's not, there's always the bargain bin. They love the bargain bin.
MLB Network's Jon Heyman reported on Wednesday afternoon that the O's are among the teams who have interest in free agent starting pitcher Kyle Lohse. The 37-year-old Lohse is a 15 year MLB veteran who pitched most recently for the Brewers.
In the four year stretch from 2011-14, Lohse threw at least 188.1 innings while compiling a 3.28 ERA. Three of the four years saw him throw 198.1 innings or more. That impressive ERA, and an equally impressive 1.143 WHIP were racked up against National League lineups, sure, but it's still impressive. So impressive that you might ask why he is still unsigned right now, on April 13.
The answer to that is simple. In 2015, his mojo ran out. Lohse didn't last the season in the rotation and overall was blasted for a 5.85 ERA. He was 36 last year. Maybe it was just the end of the line for a guy, no matter how much veteran savvy he might have been able to bring to bear. But maybe the right environment at the right time will be able to bring out some MLB caliber pitching, if he gets one more chance.
It's safe to say that if most teams were confident in a Lohse turnaround, he wouldn't be a free agent at this juncture. There are some teams out there with bad starting rotations. You can do worse than a reclamation project, especially if he's one who'll be stashed at Triple-A first to see what he's got left in the tank.
Maybe Lohse doesn't want to go to Triple-A and that's one reason why he's thus far unsigned. The guy has made about $90 million in his playing career at this point. Who wants to hit the minor league buses in his late 30s? That's a tough sell.
If Lohse doesn't want to retire, that might be what he has to do, unless the Orioles reported interest is so great that they would throw him right into the starting rotation. This sounds crazy, and yet it wouldn't even make the top five of crazy things that have happened with the O's this year. Lohse might be horrible or he might be better than Mike Wright.
There are no bad minor league deals, so if that's what the O's and Lohse work out, there's no point in worrying about it. He'll either get to Norfolk and re-establish himself or he'll get wrecked and accept that the game of baseball is letting him know it's time to hang up the spikes. And it might not be the O's who end up signing him anyway, or he might just retire.
Remember the law of baseball rumors: Probably nothing will happen.