In their prolonged search to land a frontline starting pitcher, the Braves are at least now keeping...

In their prolonged search to land a frontline starting pitcher, the Braves are at least now keeping tabs on [Derek] Lowe, who is also reportedly generating interest from the Mets, Angels, Phillies and Red Sox.

But like some of these other teams, the Braves aren't interested in providing Lowe the $16 million annual salary that he's believed to be seeking.

Bowman on the Braves' chances of signing Derek Lowe
It looks like they're waiting for other teams to drop out before they make an offer. My feeling all off-season has been that the Braves don't view Lowe as a number-1 starter, and thus aren't really prepared to give him that kind of money.

6 months ago gondeee Comment 27 comments 0 recs |

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Lowe

He’s not a #1 starter and we sure as hell shouldn’t give him that type of money.

by Mark Lempke on Jan 4, 2009 6:35 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

do you have a better option?

BIG JOE SUCK ONE

by bigjoe on Jan 4, 2009 6:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

There’s a name I want to say so bad just to upset you.

by cbwilk on Jan 4, 2009 10:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hai

i say we sing john garland

by Rafael Belliard's SLG % on Jan 4, 2009 10:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And to what tune is that song, I wonder?

by secondbass on Jan 5, 2009 5:11 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yea I do.

Wait till next year, then see if Wren can get something done. Let our young players get some more big league experience, get Smoltz back in Blue and Red, and hopefully Hudson will be back by August, but in the meantime focus on trying to find that big bat we’re desperately needing.

by Mark Lempke on Jan 5, 2009 11:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i see what you’re saying, but why improve in one area of need aside from both? you either do both and attempt to compete a little bit, or neither and tank the season. if we fix one area but not another, we’ll be hovering in that 75-85 win plateau, not in contention, not in the basement, and get a non-protected first round pick out of the deal which will fuck us when we try to improve next offseason

BIG JOE SUCK ONE

by bigjoe on Jan 5, 2009 4:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

D #

Key of suck.

by Rafael Belliard's SLG % on Jan 5, 2009 5:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

is that the brown note? because that would be perfect for the 2009 season

BIG JOE SUCK ONE

by bigjoe on Jan 5, 2009 6:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

LOL

I dont think this roster could crap themselves right, let alone play baseball

by Rafael Belliard's SLG % on Jan 5, 2009 6:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

oh no, they can play baseball…

…just not very well

BIG JOE SUCK ONE

by bigjoe on Jan 5, 2009 7:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The offer the Mets made was reasonable

by Charmin519 on Jan 4, 2009 6:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

no it wasn’t, it was laughable at best

BIG JOE SUCK ONE

by bigjoe on Jan 4, 2009 6:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Not sure it was laughable

but I agree it wasn’t something he would’ve likely accepted. I’d go as high as 3/15 per but I can’t say 3/16 would make me say no. I absolutely won’t go longer than 3 years though.

"Debated ya right not one person agreed with me" by ATLsportsfrk on Dec 27, 2008 6:31 PM EST

by scstrato on Jan 4, 2009 6:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

He is not worth 16 million a year. Maximum of 14 million. He is old and NOT an ACE. He is an older version of Vazquez. WTF

by Charmin519 on Jan 4, 2009 7:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Also if that guy wants a 3 year deal then let's get in the bidding game and drive up the price for the next 3 years for the mets or phillies.

by Charmin519 on Jan 4, 2009 7:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Uh, no

Even if Lowe regresses as expected his value for 2009 should land somewhere in the 18 mil range. 2010 he’s projected to regress to around 16 mil and 2011 is around 13 mil. (I stole this from Fangraphs in case you were wondering).

So Lowe’s 3 yr value is projected to be around 47 million. Signing him to a 3/16 type contract means you’re over valuing him by 1 mil over the life of the contract That’s a loss i’m willing to take.

"Debated ya right not one person agreed with me" by ATLsportsfrk on Dec 27, 2008 6:31 PM EST

by scstrato on Jan 4, 2009 7:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

My point, and I think Charmin’s point as well, is that the Braves don’t view him as an ace. If they did, he’d probably already be a Brave because we would have turned around after losing out on Burnett and given Lowe the same dollars per year, but we didn’t, and it doesn’t look like we are. Your point may be accurate in that Lowe is “worth” around 16 mil in the fangraphs world, but that’s 16 mil we wouldn’t have available to spend on an actual ace, and I think the Braves are trying to be careful not to have their money tied up in the wrong contracts like it was last year.

Now, there are probably those who would debate whether or not Lowe is an ace, but for our purposes by their inaction the Braves are clearly saying they don’t view him as one.

by gondeee on Jan 4, 2009 8:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed, I don’t view him as an Ace either. Though he is the best remaining FA option at this point (excluding Kawakami of course). I say that because there is clearly something we’re not hearing about Sheets and durability has to be a priority for us, at least in my mind. My only point was that ace or not, the production Lowe provides should be worth the money.

"Debated ya right not one person agreed with me" by ATLsportsfrk on Dec 27, 2008 6:31 PM EST

by scstrato on Jan 4, 2009 10:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think the Braves are trying to be careful not to have their money tied up in the wrong contracts like it was last year.

Why were they planning to give Burnett so much money then?

I guess I should be one to talk.
There's nights that I can't even walk.
There's days I couldn't give a fuck.
And in between is where I'm stuck.

by Smoltz's Beard on Jan 5, 2009 10:16 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I guess in their mind he was worth the risk because he did have “ace” stuff.

by gondeee on Jan 5, 2009 10:33 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Again, it’s hard to tell why we want one guy and not the other because we’re trying to figure out the Braves’ thinking.

by gondeee on Jan 5, 2009 10:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

him and Vazquez are completely different pitchers and it isn’t really fair to compare the two. Lowe has lived up to expectations and you know what u get… a pitcher very similar to Tim Hudson… not many HR… lots of groundballs… good movement on his pitches. Lowe isn’t an ace but he is a solid nbr 2 or a 1a if you will. Vazquez is a guy with occasionally control problems and a guy who has problems with the longball, he is at best a low nbr 2 and more realistically a solid nbr 3 starter who will eat innings with a league avg ERA and strikeout out around 9Ks per game

"We win today, that's two in a row... if we win tomorrow, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before..."

by Swo12bv on Jan 4, 2009 7:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

http://www.whensidslid.com

by garriscp on Jan 4, 2009 9:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Like Me.

I said earlier in the offseason that I viewed Sheets and Burnett as the aces and Dempster and Lowe as the #2s in te bunch. The Cubs and Yanks overpaid for their half of that group, but the other two are still out there ripe for the picking. I would not guarantee a fourth year for Lowe, but I would be willing to pay $15M/year for him. A 3/$45M offer right now not only blows what the Mets offered out of the water, but also outdistances their alleged best offer in the future. I might be willing to offer a vesting team option as a fourth season and even up the annual value of the contract to $16M/year, but only if management is willing to bring in the elite slugger that our offense needs as well.

Here we go again: http://thefulldeck.blogspot.com/

by ejruiz on Jan 4, 2009 9:59 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I agree completely!

best defensive shortstop in baseball hahahahahahahahahah (omar visquel)

by mvandonsel on Jan 5, 2009 12:28 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

2.55 WAR

is what I have Lowe at. That would be fair market of 3 years at $38 million. In a bidding war you could go a little higher if you really needed him.
vr, Xei

by Xeifrank on Jan 5, 2009 2:24 AM EST reply actions 0 recs