Yes, this is another post about the Atlanta Braves' quest to trade Derek Lowe, but this one comes with actual new information. New information directly from the mouth of Lowe himself. I was going to name this post, "Lowe On The Lowe Trade: 'It's Not If, But When'." But then I kept reading the article that Mark Bowman just posted on MLB.com. The almost-title quote from Lowe regarding a potential trade:
"I'm just waiting for it to happen," Lowe said. "I don't think it's a matter of if anymore. It's just a matter of when."
You're not the only one waiting for it to happen, Derek. Then he goes on to stick his proverbial foot in his mouth (my emphasis):
"I take it kind of personal," Lowe said. "Noboby made them give me a four-year, $60 million contract. There wasn't a ransom or anybody holding a gun to their heads. It was a negotiation and that's what they viewed as fair. I would have never even considered going there if I knew that ultimately this was going to happen."
Those are some serious words, fueled in part by this:
Since the season concluded, Lowe said that he has been bothered by the fact that he hasn't had any conversations with any members of the Braves organization.
But the Braves have made contact with Lowe's agent, Scott Boras, to explain the reason they are looking to trade either Lowe or Vazquez.
"By not speaking, that speaks as much as anything," Lowe said. "It's kind of unsettling because you're just sitting here."
That reminds me of the complaints that John Smoltz had last off-season, and quite frankly it's something that surprises me. I would have thought for sure that a coach would call and check in on each player in the off-season to make sure their following a routine and staying in shape.
Lowe has some salient points, and the Braves decision to possibly trade Lowe may have some longer and more serious implications. It has long been policy of the Braves front office not to give no-trade clauses, but the Braves have never (potentially) ushered a high-profile free agent like Lowe out of town so fast. What would trading Derek Lowe, who just signed a 4-year deal with Atlanta, say about the team's commitment to players if he gets traded after just one season (and as Lowe says, really just two bad months that put a black mark on the season). How much harder would it be to try and lure top free agents to Atlanta?
The silver lining here is that if the Braves were waffling on moving Lowe, these few words may have helped motivate them to finally pull the trigger.