Mets Already Losing To Division Foes; Braves Sign Derek Lowe

[UNHWildCats]

The Braves (http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/index.html?cxntlid=linkr) finally have their ace.

They’ve agreed to terms with veteran pitcher Derek Lowe on a four-year, $60 million contract, a person familiar with negotiations said this morning. The deal will be finalized after Lowe takes a physical Wednesday.

Lowe would join a potentially strong new-look Braves (http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/index.html?cxntlid=linkr) rotation that will include Jair Jurrjens and offseason additions Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami, a Japanesse star who’ll be introduced to Atlanta at a news conference this afternoon to announce his free-agent signing.

Lowe, 35, has been among baseball’s most reliable starting pitchers since moving to Boston’s rotation in 2002, averaging 15 wins, 208 innings and nearly 34 starts over the past seven seasons.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2009/01/13/braves_lowe.html#

[nwFL Griz]

After losing Smoltz, we really needed this one.

[LehighFan11]

Still a disappointing offseason for me as a braves fan.

[GannonFan]

The Braves (http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/index.html?cxntlid=linkr) finally have their ace.

They’ve agreed to terms with veteran pitcher Derek Lowe on a four-year, $60 million contract, a person familiar with negotiations said this morning. The deal will be finalized after Lowe takes a physical Wednesday.

Lowe would join a potentially strong new-look Braves (http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/index.html?cxntlid=linkr) rotation that will include Jair Jurrjens and offseason additions Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami, a Japanesse star who’ll be introduced to Atlanta at a news conference this afternoon to announce his free-agent signing.

Lowe, 35, has been among baseball’s most reliable starting pitchers since moving to Boston’s rotation in 2002, averaging 15 wins, 208 innings and nearly 34 starts over the past seven seasons.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2009/01/13/braves_lowe.html#

We're now calling Lowe an "ace"? He's a good pitcher and all, but if we're calling him an ace then we've really defined down that term now.

Decent staff, depends a lot, though, on how Jurrjens comes along (good rookie year, but that's just one year), how effective Vazquez is, and exactly how good Kawakami is. Certainly a blow for the Mets - having to settle for Redding rather than getting Lowe is a trade down, even though I don't agree that Lowe is an "ace".

[bluehenbillk]

Maybe this year the Braves can manage to scrape out at least a single victory at home versus the World Champs.

[gmoney55]

We're now calling Lowe an "ace"? He's a good pitcher and all, but if we're calling him an ace then we've really defined down that term now.

Decent staff, depends a lot, though, on how Jurrjens comes along (good rookie year, but that's just one year), how effective Vazquez is, and exactly how good Kawakami is. Certainly a blow for the Mets - having to settle for Redding rather than getting Lowe is a trade down, even though I don't agree that Lowe is an "ace".

If that's what ends up happening, then yes it's a humongous blow. But Redding was really only signed to compete for the No. 5 spot with Jon Niese in Spring Training. There was a pretty big division in the front office between Lowe and Ollie Perez, with none wanting to go four years guaranteed for Lowe. Might be forced to do that with Perez now or settle for a Randy Wolf or Jon Garland type. I'd be torn on Perez, he's so erratic but he did have great numbers against all the divisional teams last year.

[JMU DJ]

Maybe this year the Braves can manage to scrape out at least a single victory at home versus the World Champs.

Meet the Mets, Meet the Mets,
Step right up and sweep the mets!


Was at every Bravos v Phils game this year at Turner Field. It was glorious, by the end of the season there were more philly fans in the stadium than Braves fans.

[whitey]

What gmoney just said: The signing of Redding had absolutely nothing to do with Derek Lowe. The Mets had two openings in their rotation. Redding was signed to compete for the 5th spot with Niese, Parnell and Figueroa in spring training. If Redding losses out to one of those three he will be relegated to long man out of the bullpen/spot starter.

As a Mets fan I wanted Lowe bad, but I didn't want him at what the Braves just paid him. $15MM per year for four years to a guy who will turn 36 in April is a lot of money. Derek Lowe is a very good pitcher but he is certainly to decline in years 3 and 4. And probably decline to a point where he will be a worse pitcher than Oliver Perez in 2011 and 2012.

The Mets will likely sign Perez now. If they can get him for 4/$50MM-ish that would be a decent value in my mind. That will wind up being a very good deal for the Mets in 2011 and 2012. The bad news out of all of this is that Omar has failed to upgrade the rotation for 2009. And he hasn't addressed the offense at all. Will upgrading the bullpen alone be enough to get the Mets over the hump (and keep them ahead of the Braves)? I dunno. Guess we'll find out.

[gmoney55]

What gmoney just said: The signing of Redding had absolutely nothing to do with Derek Lowe. The Mets had two openings in their rotation. Redding was signed to compete for the 5th spot with Niese, Parnell and Figueroa in spring training. If Redding losses out to one of those three he will be relegated to long man out of the bullpen/spot starter.

As a Mets fan I wanted Lowe bad, but I didn't want him at what the Braves just paid him. $15MM per year for four years to a guy who will turn 36 in April is a lot of money. Derek Lowe is a very good pitcher but he is certainly to decline in years 3 and 4. And probably decline to a point where he will be a worse pitcher than Oliver Perez in 2011 and 2012.

The Mets will likely sign Perez now. If they can get him for 4/$50MM-ish that would be a decent value in my mind. That will wind up being a very good deal for the Mets in 2011 and 2012. The bad news out of all of this is that Omar has failed to upgrade the rotation for 2009. And he hasn't addressed the offense at all. Will upgrading the bullpen alone be enough to get the Mets over the hump (and keep them ahead of the Braves)? I dunno. Guess we'll find out.

Also brings in the question of how much money did the owners really lose in the Madoff scheme. They say it doesn't affect business but I guess we'll find out, if they don't replace Castillo at 2nd, get a front-line starter or go after a LF or C then I have my doubts.

[whitey]

Also brings in the question of how much money did the owners really lose in the Madoff scheme. They say it doesn't affect business but I guess we'll find out, if they don't replace Castillo at 2nd, get a front-line starter or go after a LF or C then I have my doubts.

This thought crossed my mind as well. If they don't pony up and sign Perez or Sheets and then sign Wolf/Garland/Pedro instead I'm thinking the Madoff losses actually did have an effect on the team payroll.

They are stuck with Castillo. No one is stupid enough to take slappy off our hands.

xpopcornx

[mcveyrl]

As a Braves fan, this is an okay signing, but as GF pointed out, a lot of this depends on how things pan out. I would not call Derek Lowe an ace by any stretch of the imagination and we have yet to see any sustained dominance from anybody else on the staff.

Still a better signing than nothing at all (maybe). I never felt the need to "replace" Smoltz though because I had really already written him off.

[PhoenixPhan06]

Speaking of the Mets loosing, has anyone seen their uniform patch for the 2009 season (their first in Citi Field)?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Mets-pizza-patch-the-laughingstock-of-baseball-;_ylt=AkLmnVwvkfNtmY18NsFRFYoRvLYF?urn=mlb,133840