Is a hitter who can pitch just a clever roster trick teams will chase this winter?
Michael Lorenzen is the clearest example — clubs are pitching him as two-way depth to dodge MLB’s 13-pitcher limit.
That edge is real: give him enough plate appearances early and you effectively gain a free 14th reliever.
Bottom line: the market is small but useful — expect a few one-year, midrange deals for proven arms with bat ability, lots of minor-league invites, and teams treating two-way status as roster arbitrage, not a foundation move.
Current Two-Way MLB Free Agents and Latest Market Rumors
Michael Lorenzen’s still the best two-way bet out there. His agent Ryan Hamill’s been pitching him hard as a designated two-way player to dodge MLB’s 13-pitcher roster limit. The pitch is pretty simple: get Lorenzen enough plate appearances in 2025 to qualify under the league’s two-way rules (20 innings pitched, 20 games with three or more plate appearances). Once he hits those marks, he won’t count against the pitcher limit for the rest of 2025 and all of 2026. That’s basically a free 14th pitcher. He put up a 3.31 ERA across 854 1/3 career innings last year with Texas and Kansas City, and word is he’s talking to multiple clubs about one-year deals somewhere between $4.5 million and $8.5 million. That’s right in line with his last three contracts.
Brendan McKay gets mentioned every now and then, but his market’s been dead quiet. Injury history and barely any recent production have teams thinking about him as a low-cost flier at best. Minor-league invite, spring training tryout, that kind of thing. You’ve also got a handful of college-to-pro two-way prospects and converted pitchers with decent batting metrics drawing some scout attention, but none of them are close to serious contract talks.
Here’s where the two-way free agent market sits right now:
- Michael Lorenzen: actively being shopped as two-way depth, looking for a one-year deal, talking to both rebuilding clubs and contenders who need bullpen help
- Brendan McKay: almost zero traction, probably ends up as a non-roster invite if he signs anywhere
- Minor-league depth guys: teams quietly checking out converted pitchers and former college two-way players for spring invites
- Late-cycle additions: expect minor-league contracts with spring training opt-outs to pop up between late January and mid-February
- Team interest: rebuilding clubs like the White Sox and Marlins get mentioned as possible landing spots to help players rack up plate appearances before flipping them to contenders
Statistical Profiles and Recent Performance of Two-Way Free Agents
Lorenzen’s pitching resume is way more solid than his hitting. He’s thrown 854 1/3 innings over his career with a 3.99 ERA and has done a bit of everything: starter, reliever, swingman. His 2024 was good. Posted that 3.31 ERA bouncing between Texas and Kansas City. On the mound, he’s still useful. Can eat innings, gives you roster flexibility. But his hitting? Different story.
From 2015 to 2019 with the Reds, he got 145 plate appearances total. Slashed .235/.279/.432 with an 84 wRC+. He walked 4.8 percent of the time and struck out 31.7 percent. There were some power flashes, like 2018 when he went deep four times in just 34 plate appearances. But then 2019 happened and he cratered to a 53 wRC+ across 53 plate appearances. Since 2020? He’s logged two total plate appearances in the majors.
McKay’s two-way profile is mostly guesswork at this point. What he did at Louisville never really translated to sustained MLB production because of injuries. His statistical sample is too small to project anything meaningful, hitting or pitching. Other depth two-way candidates on minor-league deals or spring invites usually show shaky pitching numbers. ERAs above 4.50, strikeout rates under 20 percent. Their hitting profiles tend to struggle just to hit replacement level.
| Player | Hitting Stats (Career) | Pitching Stats (Career) | 2023–2024 Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Lorenzen | .235/.279/.432, 84 wRC+, 7 HR, 145 PA | 854.1 IP, 3.99 ERA, swingman role | Pitching only, 0 PA in 2024 |
| Brendan McKay | Limited MLB sample | Limited MLB sample | Minimal MLB activity |
| Minor-league depth candidates | Below-average wRC+ (~70–90) | ERA ~4.50–5.50, K% ~15–18% | Spring invites, non-roster deals |
Contract Projections and Expected Market Value
Most two-way free agents fall into three contract tiers. Low-risk depth signings get one-year deals or minor-league invites with guaranteed salaries between $750,000 and $2.5 million. These usually come with spring training opt-outs and performance incentives tied to plate appearance or innings pitched benchmarks. Mid-tier multi-role guys who can give you regular bench at-bats or bullpen innings pull in one to three-year deals worth $3 million to $12 million total. Lorenzen fits here. His recent contracts are good comps: $6.8 million with the Angels in 2022, $8.5 million with Detroit in 2023, $4.5 million with Texas in 2024. His market this winter probably sits in the same range, maybe with a second-year club option if a team values the two-way designation upside.
Elite two-way contracts are basically unicorns. Reserved for guys who can actually perform above average in both roles. Shohei Ohtani’s the only modern example. Realistic upper-tier free-agent two-way deals top out between $10 million and $25 million annually, but only if you’re posting at least 100 plate appearances with an OPS above .750 and 40-plus innings with an ERA under 4.50. Without that production baseline, teams treat two-way players as roster arbitrage opportunities, not foundational pieces.
What influences two-way player valuations:
- Proven MLB innings and real durability across both roles
- Roster flexibility perks, especially dodging the 13-pitcher limit
- Performance incentives and team-friendly options that keep long-term risk low
- Injury history and positional versatility, especially DH eligibility and outfield experience
Teams Showing Interest and Fit Analysis
Rebuilding clubs keep coming up in Lorenzen’s market. White Sox and Marlins make sense. Both teams can allocate 20-plus games with three plate appearances to a pitcher without messing up development plans, and both could use a tradeable asset later in the season. A rebuilding team could give Lorenzen his qualifying plate appearances in the first half, then flip him to a contender needing bullpen depth in July. The two-way designation becomes a unique selling point. The Brewers and Rays, both analytics-heavy and willing to mess around with roster construction, have been loosely connected to the two-way player market in past offseasons. Neither has been specifically linked to Lorenzen this winter though.
Contending teams with DH flexibility and thin bullpens make sense too. Blue Jays, Padres, Dodgers all value roster versatility and have the organizational depth to absorb the developmental trade-offs of giving a pitcher regular at-bats. The Dodgers in particular benefited from Ohtani’s two-way designation during his Angels days, letting them carry an extra pitcher once he regained that status. American League teams have a structural edge in deploying two-way players compared to National League clubs because of the DH, though interleague scheduling has kind of blurred that line.
Best Team Fits Based on Roster Needs
The Tigers make sense for Chris Bassitt’s one-year, $16 million projection, and if they pivot to Lorenzen instead, they could afford a similar one-year commitment with upside tied to his two-way potential. The Athletics are always hunting for surplus value. They’ve got enough roster churn to experiment with giving a pitcher plate appearances, especially if it unlocks a tradeable chip by midseason. The Orioles have been linked to Nick Martinez as a swingman, and Lorenzen fits a similar profile with the added wrinkle of two-way eligibility. The Astros are always looking for veteran depth and they’re comfortable with unconventional roster strategies. Lorenzen could be a low-cost bullpen arm with optionality.
Market Dynamics for Two-Way Players
The market for two-way players has quietly grown as teams hunt for creative ways to maximize 26-man roster flexibility. Since MLB introduced the 13-pitcher limit in June 2022, front offices have explored every loophole, and the two-way designation is one of the few legally sanctioned workarounds. Teams carrying a two-way player can stock an extra reliever without giving up a bench bat. That’s a real advantage in tight postseason races where bullpen depth often decides outcomes. Analytics departments have modeled the value of that extra pitcher at roughly one to two wins above replacement over a full season, depending on usage patterns and matchup deployment.
Injury risk complicates things. Asking a pitcher to take regular at-bats introduces hand injuries, base-running strains, and fatigue that could hurt arm health. Teams also face public relations concerns, especially rebuilding clubs already under fire for perceived tanking. Allocating valuable plate appearances to a pitcher with a career 84 wRC+ instead of developing younger hitters or signing a tradeable veteran bat invites criticism from fans and media. The reputational cost to the player matters too. Some pitchers view regular hitting as embarrassing if performance lags, and agents have to weigh whether the added leverage of two-way status is worth the potential negative headlines.
What’s shaping two-way player demand:
- Roster limit arbitrage: teams willing to game the 13-pitcher rule by qualifying depth pitchers as two-way players
- Bullpen scarcity: increased reliance on high-leverage relievers has made every extra arm valuable
- Injury exposure: hand and base-running injuries pose downside risk for teams giving pitchers consistent plate appearances
- Developmental trade-offs: younger hitters and bench depth compete for the same at-bats needed to qualify two-way players
Expert and Insider Commentary
League insiders are split on whether the two-way free-agent market is real roster innovation or just a short-lived gimmick. One scouting director told reporters the eligibility formula is too easy to game. He’s predicting teams will eventually flood spring training with pitchers taking token plate appearances to unlock roster flexibility. Others think practical constraints like injury risk and developmental opportunity costs will keep the trend confined to a handful of veterans on one-year deals. An agent close to the market said teams express interest privately but pull back when they have to commit at-bats. They’d rather wait for minor-league invites with no guaranteed roster spots.
Durability concerns dominate evaluator conversations. Lorenzen’s thrown 854 1/3 career innings, which provides some comfort, but he hasn’t hit regularly in five seasons. That raises questions about whether his timing and bat speed will come back fast enough to avoid prolonged struggles. One AL executive pointed out that even replacement-level hitting, around a 75 wRC+, would be tolerable if the pitching performance stayed consistent. But if Lorenzen’s bat drags down the lineup and his arm starts showing fatigue, the experiment fails on both fronts. The best-case scenario, according to most analysts, is a team signs Lorenzen to a one-year deal, qualifies him by June, then trades him in July to a contender willing to pay the premium for an extra bullpen arm who doesn’t count against the pitcher limit.
The broader two-way conversation keeps circling back to Shohei Ohtani as the only proven model, but insiders warn against using him as a valuation benchmark. Ohtani’s two-way production was elite in both roles. A statistical outlier that won’t be replicated. The free-agent two-way market is about marginal roster gains, creative contract structures, and controlled risk. Teams are hunting for flexibility, not stardom.
Final Words
Right now the market is moving: a handful of two-way MLB free agents remain available, and we covered who’s unsigned, the latest whispers, their hitting and pitching splits, contract projections, team fits, market drivers, and what insiders are saying.
Two-way player free agency whispers: market for hitters who can pitch have picked up, so expect low-risk, flexible deals first and upside-focused bets later. This group could quietly reshuffle offseason plans — and that’s a win for teams hunting smart depth.
FAQ
Q: Who are the famous 2 way players?
A: Famous two-way players include Shohei Ohtani, Babe Ruth, Brooks Kieschnick, Brendan McKay, and Rick Ankiel; players who can both pitch and bat are usually listed as two-way prospects or veteran hybrids.
Q: Does Ohtani bat when he pitches?
A: Shohei Ohtani bats when he pitches; he routinely hits in games he starts and is used as a designated hitter on non-pitching days, though lineup decisions can vary by team.
Q: Is Michael Lorenzen a two-way player?
A: Michael Lorenzen is considered a two-way player because he has both pitched and made offensive/fielding appearances at times, though most teams have primarily deployed him as a pitcher.