Angels free agent prediction: Where Michael Lorenzen signs and for how much

The Los Angeles Angels have four of their six starters locked in. Shohei Ohtani is the ace of the staff. He's not going anywhere this offseason and will take the ball in Oakland on Opening Day.

Patrick Sandoval, Reid Detmers, and Jose Suarez all figure to have spots in the rotation. The Angels should sign two free agents. One to be towards the top of the rotation and another to round out the staff.

Michael Lorenzen signed a one-year deal with the Angels last offseason and had a solid season. I expect him to be back in Anaheim in 2023.

Angels free agent prediction: Michael Lorenzen signs a one-year $8 million dollar deal with the Angels.

Michael Lorenzen went 8-6 with a 4.24 ERA in 18 starts for the Angels this season. Lorenzen missed two months with injury but when he was healthy, he was pretty consistent for the Angels outside of a couple of very rocky starts.

Lorenzen allowed three runs or fewer in 13 of his 18 starts this season. He went at least five innings allowing three runs or fewer in all five of his starts after he returned from the injured list in September.

Lorenzen has had durability concerns his entire career but I still expect there to be interest in him as a starter. Quality starters are hard to find and I think Lorenzen proved he can be a back-end MLB starter.

He made $6.75 million dollars last season with the Angels and that was after not being a full-time starter since the 2015 season. I expect him to get a slight bump from that number, but the fact that he missed two starts probably ruins the chances of an eight-figure payday.

I wouldn't mind the Angels signing Lorenzen back on a one-year deal. If he's bad, he's gone after the year. If he's good, they strike gold. If they're competing they can keep him, if not they can trade him. The 30-year-old should still have some quality innings left.

Lorenzen has expressed an interest in remaining a starter and remaining an Angel. The fit is there, so if the Angels want him back I expect him back.