Kyle Lohse “continues to ask for” $14-$15 million annually

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reported last week that free agent Kyle Lohse was asking for a three-year, $45 million contract as recently as early March. And that asking price apparently hasn’t dipped much:

Club officials say Scott Boras continues to ask for $14 million-$15 million a year from those interested in FA pitcher Kyle Lohse.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) March 24, 2013

The main reason Lohse hasn’t found a home yet is because signing him requires the forfeiture of a top draft pick, but the asking price has surely played a significant role. With only one week to go until the first pitch of the regular season, Boras may have to get creative. The Rangers, Brewers, Angels and Rockies have all been linked to the 34-year-old Lohse this offseason, but there has been no serious movement toward a deal.

Lohse posted a 2.86 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 211 innings (33 starts) last season for the Cardinals.

Former Angels outfielder Jabari Blash has signed a one-year deal with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball, the team announced Friday. Per the Japan Times, the deal is said to be worth around $1.06 million. Blash was released from his contract with the Angels at the end of November.

The 29-year-old outfielder has had a rough go of it in the majors, where he failed to duplicate the promising results he delivered in the minors. While he consistently batted above .250 with 20-30 home runs per season at the Double- and Triple-A level, he petered out in back-to-back gigs with the Padres and Angels and slumped toward a .103/.200/.128 finish across 45 PA for Anaheim in 2018.

The hope, of course, is that the environment in NPB will help him get a better handle on his issues at the plate — in a best case scenario, resulting in a full-scale transformation that could make him more marketable to MLB teams in the future. To that end, Blash expects to be utilized as a cleanup batter in the Eagles’ lineup and will focus on assisting the club as they make a run toward the Japan Series.