Comments on: Lowe, Perez To Sign Soon?

By: Lukas

Lukas — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:04:15 +0000

I agree with David. Sheets would be better than either. I’d like to see Sheets and Ollie but I somehow doubt that will happen. Or Sheets and Pedro, although it’s very likely that Pedro will be overpaid.

By: David Foy

David Foy — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:48:34 +0000

As a Met fan the whole off-season as me pulling my hair out. I much rather have Ben Sheets than either Perez or Lowe. My preference would have been to sign Sheets and Wolf to short term deals. Another issue with the Mets slow playing the market is that now that Lowe has signed Perez’s agent Boras can milk the mets for the most money they are willing to offer because he realizes that the Mets have to sign a SP. Considering how little interest there has been in either Wolf or Sheets it would have seemed a better and easier plan to get them both quickly and force other teams to overpay for the other second tier SP free agents.

By: Pops

Pops — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:16:19 +0000

The Braves just signed Derek Lowe to a four – year deal worth a reported $60 million dollars. Looks like Plan B for the Mets.

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

By: Eric Seidman

Eric Seidman — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:55:30 +0000

Carl, also given that the Phillies just signed Ibanez, a lefty would be nice for the Mets. It seems like if the Mets could have gotten Lowe for 3/42 or 3/45, he is a better bet than Perez… but, if it’s 64 mil over 4 yrs vs 30 mil over 3 yrs, a tradeoff occurs where Perez may become the better investment. But he has been awfully inconsistent. Adding a lefty pitcher would be good for them, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be THAT lefty.

Randy Wolf would likely produce better results, or at least be more consistent, for less money.

By: Tom Au

Tom Au — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:24:36 +0000

Given his consistency, then Derek Lowe is “younger” than his chronological age of 35. On the other side of the coin, egregiously inconsistent Oliver Perez is “older” than his chronological age of 27. It seems like Mets coaches/managers are looking more at calendar ages than “true” ages in evaluating these pitchers.

It’s surprising to see Oliver Perez (and Randy Wolf) mentioned in the same breath as Derek Lowe. The Pirates knew Perez as a +1 (above replacement) pitcher over three years, with dips below replacement; i.e., not even league average in two out of three. This (“+1″) is basically the pitcher the Mets saw in 2008 (but they saw better in 2007). In this regard, Perez is closer to Tim Redding than Derek Lowe, even though his asking price is closer to Lowe’s.

The Mets have to either decide that their starting pitching is adequate, with Redding and/or Martinez at the back end, or throw in the towel in this regard and sign Lowe for whatever it takes. Using Perez as a stop-gap is like half-pulling a bad tooth.

By: Viktor

Viktor — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:14:23 +0000

Well as a Mets fan, I’m divided. On one hand, as you mentioned, Lowe is the superior pitcher and durable and everything, but the ge is still scary. There is no guarantee that he will maintain his health or that he won’t decline faster. Also, Citi Field projects as a pitcher’s park with deep OF and we still have Beltran, Church and Murphy in OF, while the likes of Castillo and Delgado are playing infield, so that favors Perez too. And also Perez handles Phillies and Braves very well, Utley, Howard can’t touch him.

If it came down to either Lowe at 4/64 or Perez at 3/30, I’m going with Perez, because it’s the cheaper, safer way. He won’t be worse than this year and that should suffice for the rotation to be above average again, while saving money/not risking the rest of the payroll on an old pitcher.

However, I am a bit disappointed that Omar didnt push harder for Lowe, when he had no other suitors and didnt snag him at 3/45. But who knows, perhaps he did and Boras turned him down.

By: Carl

Carl — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:13:29 +0000

I’m a huge Mets and I hear your argument. Which is incredibly sound and based on good numbers, and I’m an engineer so I love numbers but the game isn’t played with numbers. One thing Ollie has going for him is that he’s a lefty. With Redding probably sliding into the #5 spot, Johan would be the only lefty starter we have. Now whether your numbers show it or not, left-handed starters who are tough against lefties change a game just by being named the starter. Lineups are changed to break up rows of lefties and some guys are given the day off against tough lefties. Bottom line- all things being equal, Lowe is a more consistent and reliable pitcher but at twice the price like you’re talking about, I will welcome Ollie back with open arms. And with the $$ saved maybe we can afford a July deal for someone better…. maybe Peavy….a guy can dream, can’t he