Braves Offer Four Years, Close To $60MM To Lowe

If the Braves actually signed Lowe for 4/60 that would be a terrible signing.

They can't expect to win a title this year and Lowe is old and only getting older.

Additionally, if a team (Mets) make a 3/36 offer, the next logical step is NOT 4/60. It's either 3/39 or 4/49.

4/60 for Lowe is so much better than 5/80 for AJ. At the begining of the offseason I was hoping we would sign Lowe over any other FA pitcher. We have an excelent inf def that suits him well. Now Wren can take that trade off of his desk (assuming Lowe signs). If the Braves get a LFer we can be darkhorses in the NL East.

Mets offer 3/36, Braves offer 4/60. Seem a little overkill? Oh wait, this is a Heyman/Boras column.

Heyman says the "offer seems fair" Jon, are you getting a commission on this sgining, splitting it with Boras?

On a more rational note, the Braves don't seem to be a blow you out of the water club. If the mets actually offered 3/36, why would not the Braves offer say 3/ 42 or 3/46. There is no reason to give him 4 years while the Mets want Perez. Who is the competition?

"If the Mets can't lock up Ollie, then you start to worry."

... unless Sheets is signed. Honestly, I'd rather have Sheets at 3/4 of a season than some of the other starters at a full season, assuming he has no major injury currently.

bbxxj -- If you're talking about the Yankees, I don't really agree. The two guys up the middle (Jeter, Cano) are, at best, average defenders. At worst they are total liabilities. The outfield defense isn't anything to write home about either.

It was wise for the Yankees to pass on a guy like Lowe. Why strain an already average defense with 30 starts of ground balls?

How is $15 million a year not a fair deal for Lowe. I know he's not the best in the game, but he has been a model of consistency over the years. Also, do the Braves really have a bettr option right now?

Does anybody know what the terms of the Kawakami deal are? Then with potentially Lowe at 15MM per year, what does that leave us for a LF?

MVP#10, seeing as how 60 million divided by 4 isnt 16 million, I am not sure where you got your numbers.

My bad, 15mil per year

Boras has repeatedly stated that the reported 3/$36M offer made by the Mets never happened. Not his fault people keep bringing it up.

"This is good news for my Phils. I would much rather see Lowe with the Braves and Ollie back with the Mets."

Why would you want a pitcher who killed you last year to re-sign with you're biggest division rival? Whereas if the Mets signed Lowe, Perez would likely end up signing out of the NL East and you might not have to face him the whole season.

I guess they kinda figured they needed to go big lol.

you know i wonder. with Frank Wren doing all this talk about how they want to have their whole roster done before they even consider Tom Glavine.

I wonder if he wants to have his whole rotation solidified and then if Glavine is good put jurrjens in AAA.

I mean think about it if he were to sign Lowe then go out and make this trade that he is talking about for a pitcher that would give us a known 1-5 rotation.

1. Lowe
2. Mystery Man
3. Vazquez
4. Jurrjens
5. Kawakami

if that happens then what do we do with Glavine?

How long has Boras been paying to spread his lies Heyman?

Well this very well could be the offer that Lowe eventually agrees to sign, but would this really be the Braves starting offer?

Considering what Sabathia and Burnett got, 4 years/$60 million doesn't seem out of line for Lowe who really is less likely to experience health issues than those two. A team like the Braves almost has to overpay to get a high end free agent. If Wren can seal the deal with Lowe then pick up Dunn on the cheap, this could end up being a pretty successful off season for the Braves after all.

Although if it was for a true ace like Harrang, Felix, or someone of that caliber i kinda wouldnt mind lol

I hope the Braves sign Lowe for lower then what he want. That will mean STL will be able to get Sheets for a lower price then what he want.

I see absolutely no reason why Jurrjens would be sent down to the minors. That'd be just about the worst thing you could do to him right now.

Wren needs to simply not even offer Glavine a contract. Or if he feels he needs to give him one out of respect, offer him a Smoltz-like deal...very low guaranteed money, but with incentives built in.

Daniel, it was not reported by the AJC it was reported by the Atlantabraves.com site, and also, he probably is just using the information provided by Heyman. There is no new information in there.

I dont see anything wrong signing a guy thats 36 to that contract. We still want to sign glavine and tom is what? 42...we had alot of people to make a fuss over smoltz. I know the two were corner stones for the francise, but whats wrong with lowe?

Noone will match that...id expect a signing today or tomorrow.

''4/60 for Lowe is so much better than 5/80 for AJ.''

Both overkill, but I guess you could say it's the lesser of two evils.

This is a signing that the Braves have to make so I expect them to throw the money at Lowe. He seems to be their last prime option for starting pitching at this point.

As for where this fits the Mets, I say just sign Oliver Perez back at this point and give up on Lowe. The price will escalate in no time on him.

4/60 for Lowe is a really good signing IMO.

1. He's not a hard thrower. Hard throwers are more likely to be injury prone. He thrives off ground balls. Casey Kotchman, Yunel Escobar, and Chipper Jones are good/plus defenders, and KJ is average.

2. Lowe has NEVER had an FIP over 4.3, even in those bad years with the Red Sox, and has only pitched less than 200 IP twice since being converted to a starter in 2002 (182.2 IP and 199.1 IP).

3. One year and 20MM less than Burnett got. Wheeeee!!!

This goes a long way towards salvaging what has been a really bad offseason for the Braves. Things had been looking disastrous, and I think Wren will deflect a lot of criticism with this move. Atlanta will have a strong rotation next year with Lowe mixed in.

Lowe has already agreed to the deal:

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

It is for 4 years and 60 million. Should be very good for the first 2-3 years of the deal. Paying a 39 year old 15 million isn't exactly what you want, but the Braves have a strong system and they get to keep it intact with this signing. Good job Wren.

Nice signing ... I think the Braves will sign Huddy back next year and the rotation will be loaded.

We can have Glavine in the rotation pretty easily...

1. Lowe
2. Vazquez
3. Jurrjens
4. Kawakami
5. Glavine

Wait until 2010 or later to trade or sign an ace, that way we can show off some of the prospects by then that are in the minors. Glavine should also be retired by then...works out perfect.

utleyfan - i had to stop reading because your comment is so hilarious.

you'd rather face (with your even more lefty dominant lineup) Oliver Perez (a young lefty)

maybe you have forgotten what ollie did to your phils last season - 4 GS, 26 IP, 17 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 27 K, 0.35 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 0.181 BAA

hopefully you speak for the rest of the idiotic philly fans as well. good luck this yr champs! haha

"Wait until 2010 or later to trade or sign an ace, that way we can show off some of the prospects by then that are in the minors."

Lowe is an ace. Jurrjens has ace potential and is very close to becoming an ace.

Just because neither of them are the stereotypical strikeout pitcher doesn't mean that they're not aces.

"4/60 for Lowe is so much better than 5/80 for AJ"

LOL, thats like saying syphilis is better than gonorhea. Both of those contracts are way overpriced for the pitcher. Lowe has never came close to a Cy Young and hasnt been an all-star in 6 years. I am very glad that Omar lost out on this one.

Lowe is not an ace. He was 12-14 2 years ago with a 3.88. Last year he was 14-11 with a 3.24. Not exactly ace stuff and he's 36, so expect those numbers to decline.

He's NOT and ace. He went to one allstar game. I don't know what is wrong with braves fans you over vale all of your players. Lowe isn't that great anymore. He's an ok two starter and a good 3 starter.

IF the Braves wanted an ace, they should not trade Weinwright away to STL for someone who only last 1 year for them.

"Interesting, it seems Heyman got this one right ..."

If you write an article everyday, while maintaining a blog about rumors, then eventually you'll get one right.

Hell, I could just sit at a computer and write senseless and baseless rumors all day, and eventually I'd get some right too.

"IF the Braves wanted an ace, they should not trade Weinwright away to STL for someone who only last 1 year for them."

This if game is a bit much. The dealt him for J.D. Drew, who played great in Atlanta for his one season.

There was risk involved in giving up Wainwright, but it happened and he panned out. So, too bad..

And if you think you're disappointed about that, you're probably not going to want to follow the Texas Rangers for the next few years. Watching Feliz launch 98 MPH fastballs, Andrus make dazzling plays at short while leading off, and Salty be a quality contributor behind th eplate, it might make you cry.

Phillip Cannon -

yea how about the Braves put their best pitcher from last year in AAA - Great idea man.

most of you guys complaining about the Lowe contract probably live on the east coast and haven't followed him or watched him pitch the last 4 years. He was the dodgers most dominant an consistent starter for the past few years and his great sinker will be missed by most dodger fans, the braves are getting a great #2 starter.