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Washington's exiled left-hander John Lannan has drawn the interest of six major league organizations, according to a report by CBS Sports' Jon Heyman earlier today. The Tigers -- long rumored to be at least superficially interested in Lannan -- are said to be among the six.
The Orioles, Cubs, Tigers, Red Sox, Astros and Tigers are among teams that have expressed interest in Lannan, who is indeed a solid starter (he went 10-13 with a 3.70 ERA last year) but who had a minor-league option left. His $5-million salary is an impediment to a deal, as teams don't want to give up a decent prospect while expanding their budget. The Tigers lost Doug Fister to a side injury and are using Duane Below in his place but thus far they haven't seemed gung-ho about adding Lannan.
The Nationals, for what it's worth, say they are not interested in moving him and think of him as an insurance policy.
Lannan may actually have earned a spot in the Nationals' rotation, but he was sent out anyway because the team felt developing a younger pitcher made more long-term sense. Big League Stew essentially dubbed it the feel-bad story of spring training.
Lannan's first start for the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs would even make Max Scherzer cringe. Lannan allowed five runs on six hits in just two innings. He walked two. Four of the first five batters he faced safely hit, with two collecting doubles. A pair of walks and pair of singles in the second helped lead to the end of Lannan's day.
While certainly that game screams "small sample size" for a player who twice served as the the Nationals' opening day pitcher and who had a 3.70 ERA last year, it's not exactly a player going out to the mound to prove his team wrong.
To be honest, I'm not really in favor of the Tigers pursuing him too strongly. Maybe it's because he was a National. Maybe it's because he played in the National League. Maybe it's because he's owed $5 million. Maybe I'm irrational. Maybe it's because I have faith that one of myriad options the Tigers tout will actually step up and do the job. I don't know. I'm just not feeling it here.
What about you?