Braves Sign Derek Lowe

Btw I wanted to say Campillo did a decent job this year but he clearly wore down as a starter this year. Not sure you can depend on him for a full year.

If Hanson gets the nod over Campillo I think about changing it to 3-2 Braves.

Plus with the Prospects they saved by not going after Peavy I think the Braves only get more dangerous at this point.
I'm looking forward to seeing how Hewyard and Schafer progress.

Lowe
Jurrjens
Vasquez
Kawakami
Campillo/Glavine

Seriously, that's a nice looking rotation. That's about as good as Mutts and Phillies.

If/when the Braves get a quality outfielder....you better watch out.

Good point about durable starters, that really helps out whole staff.

That's now a decent rotation. Not great enough to really wow you but solid enough that a St. Louis 2006 type of year is very possible. Lowe should be a good bet for the first 3 years and hopefully still decent by year 4. I like him better than AJ Burnett.

I would still feel that much better to have Smoltz around.

Neutral voice here -

On paper, Braves rotation is now roughly on par with the Mets and Phillies, but certainly not above and beyond. Glavine, Kawakami and JJ are not locks to be good pitchers next year, braves fans should control their rabid emo selves. That being said, Braves rotation has a lot of upside, definitely exciting.

Braves Bullpen is solidly worse than the Mets and Phils. How does one even begin to argue otherwise? Braves best two relievers are about as injury-prone as they come.

Likewise, braves lineup is weak. Dunn would not be a bad idea.

I am thinking Nady would be a good fit too, maybe one year rental but maybe you can work something out with him, without giving too many prospects up. Yankees will be asking a lot I think for Swisher.

Guess iamnobody had no argument as to why Dunn is better than Abreu. Figures.

Oh and ChadGod, you obviously know nothing about baseball if you think Dunn wouldnt be a bad idea.

metzfan
k rod is not as great as u make him out to be. he blew a ton of saves last yr. also u have one solid pitcher in santana. the others could be toss ups of whether they perform well or not.

desertbrave

that is y im afraid of where baseballs fanbase is going. everyone becomes arrogant and cocky after 1 ws or a few good season projections. the mets have proved they were not championship caliber teams in recent years, yet met fans refuse to accept it. the class in baseballs fanbase is dwindling fast and im saddened to see that. since the marlins and nats dont have fanbases the braves are alone as the class acts of the nl east

YES! This is a great signing for the Braves. The Braves rotation is now better than it was for most of last year and better than it was in 2007 when they finished only 5 games out of first.

If they get Adam Dunn for LF it will add much needed power to the lineup. I'm expecting a rebound year for Jeff Francoeur. He really hit into some awful luck last year.

Give Andruw Jones a look see in Spring Training and see if he can rebound. It wouldn't hurt none.

Rafael Soriano was outstanding in 2007 and will be healthy this year. Mike Gonzalez is lights out as a closer. Peter Moylan will be back in May sometime and he is solid. Blaine Boyer and Manny Acosta are good middle of the game. They just got over worked last year especially Boyer. He had an ERA under 4 during the first half of the season. If they re-sign Will Ohman who was great until the final month of the season when he got tired that would be great.

All of that would make the Braves have the best bullpen in the NL East. Let's not forget about J. C. Romero's 50 game suspension. They are going to miss him big time. Also don't expect Brad Lidge to have another year like he had last year. That was one of those once in a career type seasons. Then you have Madson. The Phils don't have anyone else in the Bullpen and the Mets only have Frankie Rodriguez and J. J. Putz. Mets' fans better hope those 2 guys can pitch every day because they don't have anyone else down there. Heilman doesn't scare anyone. Also hope that Putz doesn't have any more arm troubles like he did last year. Yeah you can say the same about Gonzalez and Soriano but Gonzalez had no problems coming back from Tommy John surgery and Soriano has shown no ill effects of his minor elbow surgery he had.

Braves have a real chance to contend for the division this year. The Mets and Phillies better watch out. Also the Marlins will be good too with their young starters having another year under their belts. Should be a great summer race in the NL East. GO BRAVOS!

Why are people still clamoring for Dunn? The whole point of not trading the farm for Peavy was to keep Schafer & Heyward.

"JonB, Duaner Sanchez is now a year further away from surgery, so he will perform better this year. Sean Green is a more experienced Joe Smith, according to Keith Law. Feliciano is death to lefties, and Stokes throws 96 MPH with movement. Forget all that, look at past winners. They've all had dominant 1-2 punches at the end of a game. Lidge-Madson, Papelbon-Okajima (in '07), Wetteland-Rivera, etc. K-rod is a 26 year old, 3 time all star (i think its 3, thats off the top of my head). Putz is a year removed from a 1.38 ERA season with SEA. Name one Braves reliever who is even in their ballpark??"

Well despite having surgery, Mike Gonzalez blew only 2 saves last year. And he hadent blown a save in three whole years before that. The Braves cant really buy relievers. Its just not the top thing on an agenda for a team with their payroll. Heck, theyre having a hard time deciding whether or not to kepp Will Ohman for 2-3M. O and Moylan is pretty good as well.

The Braves have definitely improved a good deal, but there is no way they're the favorites in that division.

The Meta still have a very good rotation if they can bring back Ollie, which is likely.

The Mets now have a great bullpen, and the lineup is quite good

Right now, I think any team but Washington could win that division.

I think metzfan22 is the one you hear at all the New York games - you know, the one behind the press box that loves to yell "Lar-ry!" every time Chipper comes to bat.

Funny how nobody in NY has realized that it does NOT phase him!

Why does everyone just keep throwing Glavine into the rotation as if he is a given? I'm sure the Braves will probably give him a shot if he proves his health, but I'm not even sure he's good enough to crack the rotation at this point. I like Campillo more than Glavine (BTW who said he was a reliever in the minors? He had 3 appearances out of the BP in his entire minor league career) at this point, and I think I'd prefer giving Morton and Reyes an early shot over Glavine as well.

Anyway, barring some unforeseen troubles, I think its safe to assume that Hanson will be in the rotation come early summer. I don't think I've ever been this excited about a Braves pitching prospect before. If you take a close look at his splits and consider that he didn't start throwing his slider until late June last year, the progress he made after adding it is just staggering. His strikeout rate went from the mid 8's in May and June to over 11 in July, over 13 in August, and then over 15 in the AFL. He also went from a flyball pitcher, to a much more neutral pitcher, and HRs became much, much less of a problem for him.

"BravoFan, Gonzalez had one year as a "closer", and it was with Pittsburgh, so he didn't face pressure once. Add in that he just missed a lot of time with injury, and you are not looking so comfortable at closer. Soriano is homer-prone, and has never seen a pressure situation either. Face it, your team is really just not that good. The Mets have a thin rotation at this point, but their bullpen is strong and their offense scored the 2nd most runs in the NL last year. The Braves are not in a class with NYM and PHI at this point."

Look, Im sorry, I have to say that you are beginning to sound ridicules. You have every right to defend your team, but now all you are doing is bashing the braves. Not every player on their team sucks. They just dont get the publicity that the bigger teams get and that doesnt make them any les dangerous.
O and im just wondering, With the Mets much higher payroll, you shouldn't have to try to argue that your teams better, right?

Clemson, I was here the whole time, during each September. I took it like a man. Just last winter, the Braves fans were bragging that they were gunna win the World Series in '08. That clearly didn't happen. I'm trying to lower their hopes a little bit. Their team is not in the same boat as the Mets or Phillies at this point. Nothing bad, not talking trash, just stating a point. They are, at best, the third best team in the division.

Metzfan22,

Like I said before, if the Braves don't make it to the postseason, we Braves and Phillie fans will be enjoying another Mets collaspe. You act like you guys have won 26 WS championships. Oh wait...that's the OTHER NY team!!

metzfan22,

you are really a sour grape dude. Since when did you become Ms. Cleo and predict the future? Ok Braves finish 3rd in 07 and 08, well im going to make a prediction of my own, Collapse 09, hate to say i told u but....

It appears DOB jumped the gun. Someone close to the Braves is reporting the deal is close but nothing has been signed yet.

"Clemson, I was here the whole time, during each September. I took it like a man. Just last winter, the Braves fans were bragging that they were gunna win the World Series in '08. That clearly didn't happen. I'm trying to lower their hopes a little bit. Their team is not in the same boat as the Mets or Phillies at this point. Nothing bad, not talking trash, just stating a point. They are, at best, the third best team in the division."

Thats in your opinion, right? And your name just happens to be metzfan22? I think we should all just wait and see. In baseball its a long year and thing are not always as they seem. Some teams will have more injuries than others. Its anyones guess what will happen. The Tigers were supposed to win thwe World Series last year, right?

"I'm really loving these moves from Frank Wren so far. He's been patient, stuck to his guns, and has ended up essentially reaching his goals without having to overpay for anyone. Personally, unlike many of you guys, I don't necessarily want us to go after Dunn, but I think its pretty much a moot point anyway as I doubt we have enough money to sign him at this point. I think he was more of the backup plan if we missed out on Lowe than anything else. I'd personally be content with a trade for Ankiel or Nady (assuming the price is reasonable) and a signing of Andruw."

Agree with all of this, you're a smart guy.

I think Wren has been great so far, and anyone who disagrees simply isn't looking at the whole picture.

Wren has avoided overpaying for free agents such as Burnett, Lowe and outfielders, and now he's managed to get Lowe for 4/60, while also adding Kenshin Kawakami and Javier Vazquez.

The Vazquez move will prove to be quite prudent, when he turns in a very good season. The guy was a victim of poor luck last year, and has always consistently posted 200 innings and good peripherals.

Wren has taken his time, waiting for opportunities to take shots while not overbidding for guys.

Going over 5/80 for A.J. would've been a huge mistake, and 5/80 may be a mistake in itself.

Giving up Esco, Gorkys, Morton and Locke for Peavy would have been overpaying.

Wren has avoided mistakes, and honestly that's one of the key parts of being a good GM.

The Braves were desperate for pitching and Lowe was desperate for a mercenary big money contract although he is not worth it. 2009 - Lowe will be 12 - 11 with a 4.03 ERA
You read it here first. And boy will he be boo'd out of Shea Stadium. Braves arent going anywhere this season

tomahawk,

where is the link for that?

Wow...you Braves fans are really hitting that kool-aid hard. Signing Derek Lowe and a rookie Japanese pitcher is enough to make up 20 games on the Phils and 17 games on the Mets? Seriously?

Why did we sign Lowe? We already have a true ace in Buddy Carlisle. He is going to break out this year. I predict Cy Young.

There is way too much arguing going on here about mets and braves while all of us should be worried about the Marlins, they have the best pitching staff and are improving.

Originally posted by TripleHHH: "The Braves were desperate for pitching and Lowe was desperate for a mercenary big money contract although he is not worth it. 2009 - Lowe will be 12 - 11 with a 4.03 ERA
You read it here first. And boy will he be boo'd out of Shea Stadium. Braves arent going anywhere this season"

I so hope that you are a Mets fan. So then I will laugh joyously at your "intelligence." It will be hard for Lowe to be booed out of Shea Stadium since they won't be playing there this year.

"The Braves were desperate for pitching and Lowe was desperate for a mercenary big money contract although he is not worth it. 2009 - Lowe will be 12 - 11 with a 4.03 ERA
You read it here first. And boy will he be boo'd out of Shea Stadium. Braves arent going anywhere this season"

Uh..

May I ask who you are, and if you have any magical powers to tell the future?

"Wow...you Braves fans are really hitting that kool-aid hard. Signing Derek Lowe and a rookie Japanese pitcher is enough to make up 20 games on the Phils and 17 games on the Mets? Seriously?"

If this was the case, then why would teams even try?

The Braves have many young players who stand to improve, and have added good players to fill holes on the team.

And either way, I still think they're building towards 2010 and beyond far more than 2009.

"k-rod isn't that good"
You still need to pitch well to get 62 saves you know.

"K-rod pitches and inning. tons of pitchers can pitch an inning w/o any runs. A real pitcher gets ground balls and gets out of bases loaded and nobody out with out runs scoring"

Yeah tons of pitchers can pitch a scoreless inning, but just not the 9th. There are many pitchers that are really good pitching the 8th inning, but can't be near the 9th to close a game.

Why did we sign Lowe? We already have a true ace in Buddy Carlisle. He is going to break out this year. I predict Cy Young.

Posted by: uwalfos | January 13, 2009 at 11:12 AM

Good point. Not sure how I forgot about that guy. His facial hair alone should be worth a few wins.

~~~

chippr havin a career yr which u cant expect again.

Posted by: williebeamen | January 13, 2009 at 11:09 AM

Yup, because it's not like Chipper has posted 4 straight seasons with an OPS+ over 150. Even if his season isn't as good as last years, which it won't be, he's still arguably the best hitter in the game behind Pujols.

what about signing dunn to play first base and then trade kotchman in a package for a legit lead off hitting outfielder? thoughts?

Does this signing keep us from getting a Dunn or a Hudson type hitter?

"Look Lowe is a fine pitcher - a solid #2 IMO. I wanted him on the Mets but not at the price you guys paid. Paying 36, 37, 38 year old guys big money has been part of the Mets problems over the years. This is not a typical Braves move. Usually you are jettisoning guys like him."

...One of the few good posts in this entire thread.

Oh, and "Metzfan" ... what are you, 13? Stop acting like an idiot. Worry about your own team before you start trashing others. We all know the Mets have enough problems to make Taxpayer Field a big disaster.

I like this signing, I really do. The Braves have a great set up for Lowe with at least average infield defense across the board and a very strong SS and 3B. He should have some strong numbers and look like a solid signing.

However, and I do understand Braves fans getting excited (I'm a Cubs fan, I swear I turn into a slobbering fool at the beginning of every year, personally...) with offseason moves, but I'm honestly interested why you are all so excited about Vasquez. You say he had a down 2008, ok... well his ERA+ over the last 5 years is:

2004: 92
2005: 100
2006: 98
2007: 127
2008: 98

So you can say he had an unlucky 2008, and I can say he had a lucky 2007. All signs indicate that he's a league average pitcher at best. He'll offer you a low to mid 4 ERA and, eat a ton of innings and keep the walks down. But he also averages 9 hits/9 innings. He's very underwhelming, and I think he's a good #4 on most competing teams. I would not want him in my playoff rotation.

Not ripping on him, just want honest opinions. I don't dislike him, but seeing him listed as your #2 scares me.

"I'm honestly interested why you are all so excited about Vasquez."

Probably has something to do with his career 3.93 FIP in the AL.

njbraves - "If the Mets had signed Lowe all we would hear is how great they are going to be and how durable and consistent Lowe is. But as soon as someone else gets him, he's overrated and no big deal."

That's untrue to a large extent. It seems like the Mets fanbase was split on wanting Lowe over Perez. I've heard many people argue for Perez, and many people argue for Lowe. Sure, you'd get some idiot fans doing that, but a large portion of the mets base wants Perez over Lowe.

Lowe is a nice signing, but I think kawakami is a complete question mark. You never know how japanese pitchers will translate...position players either. I really don't think kawakami is anything to be counted on at this point, although he has the chance to be good.

I disagree with you about Dunn. Pat Burrell got 2 years 16 million. Dunn won't get more than that and most likely will get less.

Ankiel and Nady are both free agents after the season and I don't want the Braves giving up more prospects for 1 year rentals. That has killed is with Drew and Teixeira.

I think Frank Wren has seen how that can kill a farm system in a hurry.

Posted by: Tim | January 13, 2009 at 11:15 AM
-----------------------------------------

Dunn is almost certainly destined to get more than Burrell. He's better, he's younger, and Burrell took a discount because he wanted to play for the Rays. Its also extremely unlikely the Braves still have ~10 million (minimum for Dunn) to spend as they went into the offseason with around $40 million ($45 million was always incredibly optimistic) and they've already spent at least 35 million.

I realize both Nady and Ankiel are free agents at the end of the season. That's one of the reasons they make sense for the Braves because they wouldn't be blocking any young players. They also will clearly come with a much, much smaller price tag then guys like Drew and Tex did. Sure, I don't want to make a deal for either one if the cost is significantly valuable prospects, but I think its far more likely that neither one would take a single prospect out of our top 15.

By the way, I don't see how you can complain about the Drew deal considering he was the reason we made the playoffs that year and we moved Wainwright right before he dealt with an injury riddled 2004 season and extremely disappointing 2005 season. The Braves saw there was something wrong with him and moved him for a lot of value. The fact that he has turned things around years later (and some injury questions still linger) is rather irrelevant as that couldn't have been predicted with any certainty.

Thankfully, I have NOT been one of the ones criticizing Frank Wren. I think he did a great job last year and this season as well.

My biggest fear was of trading multiple talented young prospects for some other team's over-the-hill veterans. So far, the only trade that involved multiple prospects has been for Vazquez. And the Braves needed a middle of the rotation pitcher who could eat a lot of innings - and that is Vazquez.

I think Wren has positioned the Braves to be competitive next year without giving up the farm system. Excellent!!!

To everyone who keeps bashing our aceless staff I bring up once again 2004

1. Russ Ortiz
2. Mike Hampton
3. John Thomson
4. Horacio Ramirez
5. Jaret Wright

The Braves are a better team with the signing of Lowe and Kawakami. Thats not a bad rotation. I look forward to some good baseball in the NL East this year.

Why are we (the Braves) being compared mostly to just the Mets, and not to the World Champion Phils?

Congrats to Braves. A mid-30's Lowe is better than a 41 year old with bad shoulder Smoltz at this point.

Beat the Mets, beat the Mets, step right up and sweep the Mets!

The Braves current rotation is now entirely right handed. Nevermind the Mets lineup, it's going to look much worse when matched up against the Phillies lineup.

Posted by: sampsonite168 | January 13, 2009 at 11:31 AM

Did you even bother to look at their splits? Just curious.

i think atl has the best rotation right now and ollie wont change that. mets 2nd and phillies distant 3rd. remember cole is the only reliable one in that rotation. moyer gets knocked around alot, blanton is awful and myers is wild when streaky. but the bullpen without a doubt goes to the mets. it doesnt matter how tight the game is at the end of the 7th, if u dont have a 1-2 punch to finish the game consistently then a good rotation can go to waste. ie the indians for the first half of last year.

Posted by: clemsontribe24 | January 13, 2009 at 10:18 AM

The Braves do not have the best rotation right now. I think even Met fans can agree that their rotation isn't set and as good as The Phillies right now (come on Met fans, put away the hatred and be realistic for a moment and you know it is true).
Can't knock Phils bullpen last year, especially a closer that went perfect for a whole entire year.

If you want to talk about the Phillies rotation than dont go buy what you saw only in the playoffs. Cole Hamels didn't have that good of a regular season. He struck a lot of guys out but his record wasn't what you would like to see out of your #1. Myers had an outstanding second half. Moyer and Blanton get hit of off but somehow they still manage to win games. With the Phillies, Blanton was 12-4 and I believe and Moyer managed to win 16 games last year or something like that.

I know people like to show a lot of confidence in there favorite team but try to be realistic at the same time.

"The Braves do not have the best rotation right now."

Haha, no, really, they do.

Lowe Blanton
Jurrjens = Myers
Kawakami > Moyer/whoever
Campillo > whoever (Happ?)

weird that didn't show up...
i'll try again:

Lowe Blanton
Jurrjens = Myers
Kawakami > Moyer/whoever
Campillo > whoever (Happ?)

oh i get it

weird that didn't show up...
i'll try again:

Lowe less than Hamels
Vazquez > Blanton
Jurrjens = Myers
Kawakami > Moyer/whoever
Campillo > whoever (Happ?)

"Not ripping on him, just want honest opinions. I don't dislike him, but seeing him listed as your #2 scares me."

Vazquez is not the Braves #2 starter. Jair Jurrjens is. The kid was great last year and will only get better.

"In Japan, kawakami need six days rest."

There have been very few Japanese starters who came to the U.S. at that age and succeeded. In fact, I can't think of one. Maybe it's because of that 6-day schedule. It's just too hard for older pitchers to adjust.

"Vazquez is not the Braves #2 starter. Jair Jurrjens is. The kid was great last year and will only get better."

Do you really think they'll make Jurrjens #2?