Mets & Yanks May Regret Passing Up Lowe
By Mike Silva ~ June 10th, 2009. Filed under: Mike Silva.
Derek Lowe: 7-3, 3.44 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, .244 BAA
Those stats, now and going forward might be ringing the bell of doubt for both local teams throughout the season. Derek Lowe was first rumored to be on the Yankees radar, then the Mets later in the winter. Both teams passed for pitchers that were younger, erratic, and in the case of AJ Burnett, injury prone. How good would Lowe look behind CC Sabathia and Johan Santana?
It’s easy to label passing up Lowe as a bad move. It’s the ultimate Monday morning quarterback. I was all for Lowe coming here, but didn’t believe it was worth a 4 year $60 million dollar deal. Believe it or not, it actually looks a lot worse move for the Yankees because they paid another year and $20 million dollars for a pitcher that looks very ordinary. All of a sudden the struggles of Burnett and Wang have shorten the length of the Yankees starting rotation. With a shaky bullpen that is never a good proposition.
For the Mets it may be a case where their decision has forced them to go out and get another facsimile of Lowe. This, of course, would mean they need to give up young talent in the process when it would only have cost them money in the winter. I knew Lowe would give you solid numbers in the near term, but who knows about the last couple of years when he is approaching age 40. The question is would it have been worth having a diminished Lowe at 40, a productive Oliver Perez on another team, and a championship banner flying above Citi Field? I would have to say yes.
You could understand the reservations that Omar Minaya and Brian Cashman had when passing up on Lowe. Why give big money to an aging pitcher when you have two younger power arms in Burnett and Perez? What many didn’t factor is that Lowe, unlike the aforementioned, knows how to pitch, has done it for a long time, and is playoff tested. Many forget he was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the ALCS in 2004.
You can’t complain because it made sense in the offseason, but that doesn’t mean you can’t wonder what if.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I’m confused – how did passing up on Lowe and signing Oliver Perez make sense?
June 10th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
When did signing Ollie Perez over Derek Lowe ever make sense?
June 10th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Umm when did the Mets pass on Lowe? if memory serves me right the Mets offered Lowe a contract he felt insulted then went to Atlanta and took the first Deal he got from them. Yeah that looks like they passed on him .Perez was the last choice by the Mets and by far a reasonable one because of the years and dollar amount Lowe ended up getting. Im not saying he isnt doing great but he is 36 with a 60 million dollar contract that means he will be getting paid 15 million till he is 40? that doesn’t sound like a good investment to me.So Yeah hes looking good now but ask it again in a year or two when the Mets can afford a better pitcher at a younger age because they didnt spend it on Lowe and Lowe will be loosing his consistency. So good for now but not the Future.