Mets Deep In Negotiations With Lowe

If they sign him, hope it takes them out of any running for Manny.

But in turn, it sucks for the red sox.

What's a "Mets"?

Not sure if you're serious or not Michael Kei, but it's short for Metropolitans.

I don't think the Mets are serious bidders for Manny anyways NedCollettiClueless, the Wilpons would never allow a serious run at him.

As for Lowe, this would be good news. Get it done, Omar! Hopefully something like 3/45.

Derek Lowe does seem like a good addition to the Mets. Hopefully Scott Boras isn't asking for Barry Zito money still. Here's what the Mets rotation will look like if Lowe is signed:

Johan Santana
Derek Lowe
John Maine
Mike Pelfrey
Jonathon Niese

Looks like a solid rotation to me. Also, how come no one wants Daniel Murphy to play left field in 2009?

Nick Swisher for MVP
I for one think Murphy will flourish in Left Field this year for the Mets and am a big supported of them keeping him out there long term or at least until Carlos Delgado leaves.

Agreed. It seems as if the Mets would rather have a young, inexpensive left fielder with talent instead of signing an older free agent to a long term deal. Omar Miniya did not want a big payroll for 2009.

Hurry up and sign him before the Red Sox change their minds about pursuing him.

oh and for Maine, i forgot to mention he pitches about 5 innings or so a start too...we CANNOT go thru that again this year

I absolutely bigchart. I have been hoping the mets get Nady back right after the 06' season when we traded him. He carried us the beggining portion of that season.

With that being said I would much rather see Minaya sign Manny then make a deal with those absolutley atrocious Hankees.

I also concur that Niese is horrible as a 5th starter. He hasnt proved a single thing. I would much rather see a rotation of Santana, Lowe, Pelfrey, Maine and Wolf or Marquis then a rotation that includes Niese.

We do have a lot of holes i agree with that. I also think that Minaya has to dump Castillo for a bucket of balls and sign O-Hudson. He would be a perfect number 2 hitter or we could drop him to the 8th hole and have him prosper there.

I love what Minaya has done so far but there is so much more that needs to be done.

Johnnyfly11

I actually made this account a year ago when Nick Swisher was on the A's. But now that he is on the Yankees I want to change it. Does anyone know how to change your user name on Type Key?

YES!!! Deep negotiations seem to be the flavor of the day. Lock down Lowe, move on to Manny...good.

How come the Braves will not go after Lowe? This continues to make me mad that they will just sit by and watch teams improve themselves while we get steadily worse.

A rotation headed by Santana, Pelfrey, and Lowe would be very solid.
Plus, Maine giving you 5 or 6 strong innings will have a different feel with K-Rod & Putz since the game is pretty much shortened to 7 innings. That means if Maine goes five, all the Mets would need would be a strong bullpen for 2 innings.
As for Niese, he'll be fine in the five spot. I mean, he'll be average or slightly above average. However, I think it would be a good idea for Omar to sign a veteran pitcher to a one-year deal (like El-Duque) who could at least start the season in the rotation until he fails or (in the case of El Duque) gets injured.
As for the lineup, the Mets do need a right-handed bat to balance out the order. Nady; however, would cost prospects that the Mets can't afford to lose without a first round pick this year and a weak draft class to boot. So, either the Mets try to buy low on someone like Eric Byrnes or Jose Guillen, or sign a somewhat cheap free agent like Ty Wigginton (2yrs 15 MM).

Lowe would be a good addition to the Mets. He's a durable and dependable pitcher behind Santana.

"and i DO LIKE Murphy a lot..but this team needs to prove something to its fan base..we need to win NOW..2 more SOLID starters and manny/nady is NECESSARY"

So either a fringe league average corner outfielder, or if not him, the best hitting outfielder of this generation are a necessity? That is like me saying..... CC Sabathia or Jon Garland are a necessity!

Yeah wtf Nady? He's not much better than Murphy.

nrmax88,

Xavier Nady is better than an average corner outfielder. .305 AVG, 25 HR, 97 RBI in 148 games is better than average. He is a better hitter now than when he was on the Mets. He also has a good throwing arm.

Santana, Lowe, Pelfrey, Maine, and "some other guy" (Tim Redding? Koji Uehara? Pedro?) is a very good rotation, probably the second or third best in the NL, behind the Cubs and maybe Arizona. Look, the Mets have more individual talent than the Phillies. No one is gonna argue with that. But the Sillies, believe it or not, have much more team chemistry and a better bullpen, which won them a championship. As I said before, if the Mets win the division and lose 3-1 in the NLDS, the season is a success. But they're under no circumstances the favorites until they prove it.

What's a reasonable contract ceiling for Lowe? He's 35 (will turn 36 this June) and it helps anybody to pitch in the Dodgers' home park (the stats. agree with the opinion).

3/48?
4/60?

Also, I wonder what "deep into talks" means. Are they sitting cross-legged in a circle? Drinking beers and watching Cheech and Chong movies? In a stall next to Canseco? Is everybody in the room smoking cigars and wearing those poker visors?

Peterherman, Manny has no market. I'm not even sure the Dodgers are too keen on bringing him back. If the Mets want him, they'll get him, and on their terms.

My guess: The Dodgers re-sign Manny.

"Peterherman, Manny has no market. I'm not even sure the Dodgers are too keen on bringing him back. If the Mets want him, they'll get him, and on their terms."

I think Bernie Madoff's terms send him back to LA...

GravediggerHebner,

I'm seeing a career 4.92 ERA and someone who's never pitched more than 176 innings before 2008, when he pitched 182 (with a 4.95 ERA).

I'm also not a fan of Blanton, Kendrick or Sonnanstine. Several of those other guys had bad years.

Redding's had a mediocre (at best) career. Maybe he's No. 5 starter, and I'm sure he'd be cheap, but I wouldn't want to count on him and plan to win.

Lowe would be/is a great signing for the Mets. Do grab a cheap gloveman to hold 2B when Lowe pitches though; Castillo at 2B when Lowe pitches is an absolute disaster.

Why aren't the Braves in on him though again?

"Lowe CAN help take the pressure off your bullpen by going very late into games with his sinker. He just simply WON'T go into the late innings often, as he told Torre and previous managers that he's done, usually after the sixth. Not a slam on DLowe, just fact.

Posted by: abcrazy4dodgers | December 23, 2008 at 06:34 PM"

You do realize he pitched the 9th MOST amount of innings in the NL last season, right?

The Mets are in no way, shape or form anything remotely resembling the team to beat in the NL East. Even though none of our players have said "we're the team to beat" yet, contrary to biased reports, Mets fans are still going to get overexcited, leading to disappointment. If the Mets win the NL East in 2009, it will be as big of an upset as it was when the Sillies shocked us in 2007.

^ You're kidding right??? The Phillies are the team to beat, but don't make it like they're some sort of demi-gods, and can't be touched...

I would much enjoy some Koji Uehara.

Peterherman, Manny has no market. I'm not even sure the Dodgers are too keen on bringing him back. If the Mets want him, they'll get him, and on their terms.

I SECOND THIS BECAUSE MANNY HAS NO OFFERS BUT FROM THE YANKEES AND THERE DONE THEY WASTED MONEY ALREADY.

I think the Mets can do that, but I don't see it happening. The Madoff scandal has to affect the team in some capacity, and I just don't think the Mets are gonna shell out that kind of cash unless they absolutely have to. Lowe and a Redding-type seems like the direction they're headed. I personally would like to see Lowe and Manny Ramirez, but that's just not gonna happen.

Art,

haha. Ya right. Team to beat. Actually since we are, as you say, The WORLD Champs, we are the team that NO ONE beat.

Oh and exactly how do you get "deep in negotiations" but have yet to make an offer. Isn't that a tad oxy-moronic?

melonis,

I would agree with all except that I don't expect Chipper to be there much longer. At some point his age HAS to catch up to him. Ya i realize that he had one of his best years ever this year but he was injured a lot. I would say he's maybe got 1-2 more years in him and then the HOF calls 5 years later.

oh and i'm not all that impressed with Kotchman. They do have some very good young kids.

Look, the Mets have more individual talent than the Phillies. No one is gonna argue with that. But the Sillies, believe it or not, have much more team chemistry and a better bullpen, which won them a championship. As I said before, if the Mets win the division and lose 3-1 in the NLDS, the season is a success. But they're under no circumstances the favorites until they prove it.

Posted by: metsobsessed | December 23, 2008 at 05:54 PM

The Mets have more individual talent??? I'd like to argue that point.. let's go position by position shall we???

Howard over Delgado
Utley over Castillo
Ibanez over Murphy
Werth over Church

Wright over Feliz/Dobbs
Beltran over Victorino

Rollins / Reyes tie
Ruiz/Paulino - Schoeder/Castro tie

Phillies bench over Mets bench
Phillies pen over Mets Pen
Phiilies starting 5 over Mets starting Five (as of today) - No Lowe yet, and right now, Niese as #5 starter.

As a braves fan, a word of advice to the Mets: DONT SEND AN OFFER SHEET TO LOWE! The fa*got skankees will triple the offer and take him from you.

As for Lowe, good pitcher. But for whoever said "Santana, Lowe, Maine, Pelfrey and some other guy is a good rotation" has to be kidding me. The Phillies won the world series. You guys gotta have better then that.

Im saying this cause Atlanta doesnt know how to make a deal anymore. Jake Peavy? No. Burnett? No. Jermaine Dye? No.
JAVIER VAZQUEZ? Yes! ha

Posted by: bravesfansc | December 23, 2008 at 05:49 PM

Its one thing to say the mets arnt the team to beat... Thats fine, the phils won the past two years and are WS champs. But to say that a rotation of Santana, Lowe, Pelfrey, Maine and someone else isnt a good rotation because the phils are the team to beat is moronic.

Fyreknight.... just go away, go wackoff to your BJ handbook. Nobody takes you seriously over here.

The Phillies are the team to beat. You are still a dipshit. Anything else?

knight, how exactly is the phillies starting five better than the mets'? johan > hamels, pelfrey >/= myers, maine= moyer, blanton >(UNKNOWN), niese=?(could be stud, who knows?). Also, k-rod/putz >> lidge/madson. And dont forget sean green. The mets pen might not only be better, if lidge isnt anywhere near lights out... it could be far superior.

Hamels is an Ace, as is Santana... Face them off, neither has an edge, both can shut out the other team.

Myers was as good as any pitcher in the NL after his stint in the minors to get straightened out.

Blanton isn't an unknown, he wins every year.. and was very very good for the Phillies, a full year he should be a 13-15 game winner.

Moyer was a 16 game winner in 08, a 14 game winner in 07. Age has nothing on him... if anything, he is improving...

Kendrick had 10 wins in 07 and 11 on 08 as our #5. He'll compete with Happ and Park for the #5.

We have a lot of depth for starters, with 4 fighting just to be our #5 pitcher.

Putz is your question mark.. how will he take the DEMOTION from being a closer to being the set-up man? Unknown.. and he wasn't healthy either.

Maine has health issues... Pelfrey is unknown still... Niese? Don't see him as being ready yet. You have 1 lefty in the Pen... Wagner put fear in the Phillies hitters... I welcome seeing K-Rod and Putz over Schoenwis and wagner....

Yeah "IF" Lidge isn't lights out... think you can say that about ANY Pitcher... player.

Look, the Mets have more individual talent than the Phillies. No one is gonna argue with that. But the Sillies, believe it or not, have much more team chemistry and a better bullpen, which won them a championship. As I said before, if the Mets win the division and lose 3-1 in the NLDS, the season is a success. But they're under no circumstances the favorites until they prove it.

Posted by: metsobsessed | December 23, 2008 at 05:54 PM

The Mets have more individual talent??? I'd like to argue that point.. let's go position by position shall we???

Howard over Delgado
Utley over Castillo
Ibanez over Murphy
Werth over Church

Wright over Feliz/Dobbs
Beltran over Victorino

Rollins / Reyes tie
Ruiz/Paulino - Schoeder/Castro tie

Phillies bench over Mets bench
Phillies pen over Mets Pen
Phiilies starting 5 over Mets starting Five (as of today) - No Lowe yet, and right now, Niese as #5 starter.

Posted by: FyreKnight | December 23, 2008 at 09:49 PM

Ignorant...

While i will agree that Howard is an upgrade over Delgado, it is a small one. Delgado is certainly a better fielder and comparable with the bat. Much less Ks, but also much less power.

Utley is head and shoulders better than any met 2nd baseman. just do me the favor of leaving castillo out of the equation.

SS is a different story. Equal is homeristic yes i said homeristic.

Going into last year all we heard was how much better Rollins was then reyes. However, three years ago reyes was superior, before last year rollins, then last year, clearly reyes. Reyes is also 25 while rollins is now 30. Combine age with numbers and clearly reyes is the better player... Last years stats:
Rollins- .277 avg 11 HRs 59 RBIs 47 SBs and a .786 OPS
Reyes- .297 avg 16 HRs 68 RBIs 56 SBs and a .833 OPS

Wright is obviously better than whoever you consider your 3rd Baseman. equivalently to Utley's advantage over our 2nd basemen.

In the outfield,
LF- Ibanez is more proven than murphy. He is also 12 years older. Murphy was in the league a lot shorter amount of time. so the only way to compare the bats is OPS and AVG, both of which Murphy is better.
Murphy .870 OPS .313 AVG
Ibanez .837 OPS .293 AVG

That being said, they are Equal in reality

Beltran, quite possibly the best CFer in the game, certainly better than Victorino

Church vs. Werth
Both Plus defenders lets call that a wash without actually looking at stats.. if you would like bring them in and ill concede if necessary

Because of injury, Church only played in 90 games. Which hurts his numbers.... My personal opinion is that he is a stronger Offensive player, although the numbers tend lean the other direction... although very slightly... I will agree to call them even.

At catcher no one has a stud, castro is the best hitting catcher out of the group, schneider maybe the best defensive out of the group.. its hard to compare 4 players in two groups. I am going to say there is no decernable difference. between the group of catchers.

Starting pitching... sure its easy to say that your 5 pitchers are better than 3.. but that just doesnt make sense to say.
That being said I will also agree that its not fair to consider Lowe a Met, or Ollie/Sheets/Redding/Garcia/? a met. So we will do it this way.
Johan > Hamels- I dont think this needs explanation, although I could see someone from philly disagreeing. We can go there if necessary.

The rest of the rotation is a ? so we will have to leave it like that until the mets have decided who is their 2-5

Bullpen I think is hard to say. Last year obviously phils over mets. This year is a different story. We now have 2 of the top 10 closers. I am not going to make a claim that we have a better pen, for me its like claiming we are the team to beat. Cant do it until it happens. I am claiming that no one should be talking smack about their pen. therefore making them equal. in my mind anyway, I am sure you will have a different say.

Overall...
Lineup- Mets
SP- Mets
BP- Tie

Mets- better on paper
Phils- team to beat

Fish&Mets,

did you really say Schnider was a better defensive catcher than Ruiz? I doubt that a whole lot. No one blocks the plate better than Ruiz (especially on Lidge's sliders), and go back and look at the swipe tag on Barrett on Utley's WS Game 5 play. Ruiz had perfect positioning and made a perfect tag. Schnider doesn't do that. While his offense leaves a lot to be desired his defense is fantastic. He outplayed Dionnar Navarro who is widely considered one of the best in the league.

I would trade Delgado to the Angels and have Daniel Murphy play first base. Then i would sign a left fielder or have Fernado Martinez play.