Houston Astros trade rumors: World Series champs and fellow AL contender interested in Tigers ace

Of course, Tampa Bay and Houston are just two of several teams monitoring the market for the Detroit pitcher. Lorenzen is having a strong season, working with a 3.49 ERA in 17 starts. He pitched seven scoreless innings to beat the Royals this afternoon and has not allowed a run in any of his last three starts.

Lorenzen began the season on the injured list after spraining his groin in spring training. Since returning in mid-April, he has been a quality starter for Detroit. He has allowed two or fewer runs in 11 of his 17 starts. While his 19.1 percent strikeout rate is a few points below league average, he has held walks to a modest 6.5 percent. Lorenzen has a negligible platoon split and mixes four pitches with regularity.

While not the most powerful profile, the former All-Star looks to be a solid mid-rotation arm for contenders. Tampa Bay and Houston have made it clear they are researching the rotation market. The Rays have little depth behind their top four, Shane McClanahan, Tyler Glasnow, Zach Eflin and rookie Taj Bradley. They lost Drew Rasmussen and Jeffrey Springs for the season and were without left-hander Josh Fleming for an extended period.

Tampa Bay is linked to a slew of rental starters. Lance Lynn, Jordan Montgomery, Jack Flaherty and Marcus Stroman (the latter has a $21 million player option for next season) are all reportedly on Tampa Bay’s radar. The Rays appear to be casting a wide net as they look to solidify their final rotation spot in their battle for the AL East title.

Like the Rays, the Astros have a top quality rotation. Framber Valdez heads a group that also includes Cristian Javier and rookie Hunter Brown. Javier has struggled lately, which the team attributed to some fatigue, while Brown is already at 99 1/3 innings after throwing 130 frames last year between the regular season and playoffs. J.P. France and Ronel Blanco have taken the last two spots. Houston general manager Dana Brown has publicly discussed his desire to have another arm. The Astros have also been linked to Stroman.

Lorenzen could fit in with virtually any contender. He is playing this season on an $8.5 million salary. About $2.79 million remains to be paid as of the deadline. Lorenzen earned an extra $250,000 in incentives by surpassing the 100-inning mark today and would earn an amount equivalent to the 125th, 150th, 175th, 195th and 205th frames.

If he stays healthy, he’s likely to reach at least the 150-175 innings range. Still, the bill for a buying team would only be about $3 million. That’s a reasonable figure for mid-rotation production for the stretch run and playoffs.

While all that makes Lorenzen a sensible target for a trade, it’s not a foregone conclusion that Detroit will sell him. Despite being eight games under .500 with a -77 run differential, the Tigers are just five games behind the division-leading Twins in the AL Central.

It’s hard to see this Detroit team making a push for the playoffs – only Oakland and Kansas City have scored fewer runs this season – but the division’s bleakness leaves the door slightly ajar. President of baseball operations Scott Harris hinted last week that the team could play well enough to avoid a sale at the deadline, though they could reach a middle ground by trading Lorenzen and keeping players who can be controlled beyond 2023.