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The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers were embroiled in a bidding war for free-agent right-hander Seth Lugo, and he made his final decision on Monday. According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, Lugo and the Padres are in agreement on a contract in free agency, bringing the former Mets' reliever to San Diego after he spent the last seven seasons in the Big Apple.
Via Heyman on Twitter:
“Padres are finalizing a deal with Seth Lugo.”
According to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, Lugo and the Padres agreed to a two-year deal worth just over $15 million.
The expectation is that Lugo will move on from the bullpen role he had with the Mets and become a starting pitcher for the Padres. The Dodgers were also pursuing him in hopes of adding him to their starting rotation, but they'll be disappointed to have missed out, especially to their NL West rivals.
Lugo started his MLB career out as a starter but ended up settling into a relief role for the Mets. It's been known that he wants to give it another go as a starting pitcher, and it appears he'll get that opportunity with the Padres. Lugo has made 275 total appearances in MLB, including 38 starts.
In 38 games in his career as a starting pitcher, Lugo has a 4.35 ERA with 174 strikeouts in 194.2 innings. As a reliever, Lugo has a 2.91 ERA with 334 strikeouts in 300 innings, making 237 relief appearances.
The Padres moved on from Mike Clevinger this offseason, opening up a place in their starting rotation. Seth Lugo is hoping to fill that void, though he has only started seven games since the 2019 season and hasn't made a start in each of the past two years.
