Being a successful agent means, among other burdens, getting people to talk about your client when they otherwise wouldn’t. Tip your cap to CAA’s Ryan Hamill, then, for a job well done with respect to free-agent right-hander Michael Lorenzen.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal has the details on a creative sales pitch conceived by Hamill and Lorenzen that has them marketing Lorenzen as a two-way player. The goal isn’t to convince a team that Lorenzen can do his best Shohei Ohtani approximation; rather, it’s to sell a non-contender on using Lorenzen in an offensive capacity long enough (20 games with at least three plate appearances apiece) for him to earn the two-way player designation. At that point, Lorenzen would no longer count toward Major League Baseball’s 13-pitcher limit, allowing his next team (ostensibly a contender who acquires him at the trade deadline) to effectively carry 14 pitchers down the stretch, a sweetener that might enhance Lorenzen’s trade value to any and all teams wanting the extra arm.
Here’s how Rosenthal reported the pitch:
Hamill, according to sources briefed on his conversations, is talking with such clubs about signing Lorenzen, getting him the necessary plate appearances to qualify for two-way status and then flipping him to a contender that would benefit from carrying him as a 14th pitcher.
While I appreciate the creativity on display, and I mean no disrespect to the parties involved (indeed, if the goal was to create buzz then consider it a success), I can only hope that no team buys into Hamill and Lorenzen’s idea — ditto for other teams, players, and agents who may feel inspired by this line of thinking.
Make no mistake: Lorenzen is a capable starting pitcher. He shouldn’t need gimmickry to land a contract, potentially with a good team. He’s amassed a 106 ERA+ over the last three seasons, along the way earning his first (and to date only) All-Star Game designation. I ranked Lorenzen as the 38th-best free agent available this winter, noting that his wide-ranging arsenal makes me believe