Month: December 2008

Mets Won’t Offer Lowe Fourth Year

Once again Jack Curry of the New York Times comes up with some seemingly solid information about the negotiations between the Mets and free agent pitcher Derek Lowe. Apparently, Curry is talking to someone with inside knowledge about the Mets strategy in dealing with Lowe and his agent Scott Boras,

Curry says, definitively, that the Mets won’t offer Lowe a fourth year. Currently, the Mets offer stands at 3-years/$36 million. The money will be a topic of negotiation but not the years.

I can understand the Mets reluctance to give more years to Lowe considering that he’ll be 36 years old next season. But Lowe has been durable. He’s pitched at least 182 innings/season since 2002. That was his first season as a starter.

If I were Omar Minaya, I wouldn’t get too hung up on three years. A vesting team option for the fourth year should be acceptable. Maybe they could look to vest the fourth year if Lowe averages 190+ innings over years two and three of the contract, or something along those lines.

Mets Offer Derek Lowe Contract

Jack Curry of the New York Times is reporting today that the Mets made an offer to Derek Lowe. It’s no surpise that he’s the pitcher the Mets are after right now. Ben Sheets, Oliver Perez, and Randy Wolf are still available as free agents as well. But Lowe is the best starting pitcher on the market.

Curry reports that the offer is a 3-year/$36 million contract. Lowe will be 36 years old next season so it makes sense to keep the contract to three years or fewer.

Lowe is reported to be seeking a 5-year/$90 million contract. So the Mets are pretty far from Lowe’s desired deal. The Red Sox and Phillies are also reported to be interested in Lowe. But it’s difficult to tell how interested they are. The Red Sox just signed Brad Penny to a one year deal. So they may not go after another starter.

I’m completely on board with this signing, especially if Omar Minaya can keep the contract to just three years. I would even go to four years, but there’s no way that I’d go to five. Lowe is probably going to get closer to the $50 million range than the $90 million that he’s seeking.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Audio: Ken Rosenthal Hot Stove Report

Fox Sports senior baseball writer Ken Rosenthal joins Evan Roberts on WFAN to talk hot stove baseball. Of course, Evan talks mostly about the Mets. Rosenthal debunks the notion that the Mets and Dodgers are still talking about an Andruw Jones trade. Several media reports have done the same today despite Buster Olney’s report on ESPN yesterday.

Ken Rosenthal audio

Enhanced by Zemanta

Report: Mets And Dodgers Talk Andruw Jones Trade

Andruw Jones, a Major League Baseball player i...
Image via Wikipedia

Buster Olney is reporting at ESPN that the Mets and Dodgers are talking about a deal that would send Andruw Jones to New York. Olney writes that the Dodgers would be willing to eat some of the money left on the last year of Jones’ contract.

Jones has been terrible for two seasons in a row now. He gained a lot of weight and lost several steps in the outfield. Olney surmises that the Mets would put Jones in right field supplanting Ryan Church.

I can’t figure out how this makes sense for the Mets unless the Dodgers are willing to take Luis Castillo in return. But Olney writes that the Dodgers likely have no interest in Castillo because Blake DeWitt is playing second base.

Omar Minaya has made some bad signings during his career but he’s usually pretty saavy in the trade market. I’ll be surprised if he’s willing to take on Andruw Jones at this point in his career.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Mets 2009 Spring Training Schedule

I added the 2009 spring traing schedule to the site. For those of us planning to be in Florida this spring, it’ll give us dates and times for each of the games. I’ll continue adding to the schedule by adding maps to the specific locations of each stadium so you can easily get driving directions from Google Maps.

You can also access the schedule on the navigation above. Just click “Spring Training Schedule”.

Add a comment below if you’re planning on a trip to Florida for spring training.