Phillies Nation

It’s going to be tough to out bid the RedSox and Yankees. Anyone know if Lowe prefers the Al or NL?

I don’t know if he has a preference to either league, but I know he would prefer to stay on the east coast.

I think Lowe would work in Philly really well with his sinker. I just wonder if he wants to play in Philly though. My guess is that the Phillies are just throwing a number out there to see if it sticks and its probably a little less than he’d normally get. I wouldn’t count on Lowe being with the Phillies.

I think Lowe re-signs with the Red Sox. The Red Sox have to sign somebody and I think the Yankees and Angels will sign Sabathia and Teixeira (or vice versa) which leaves Lowe to the Red Sox. Also, since Burnett seems to be on his way to the Braves and reportedly got a 5 year offer, what kind of offer is it going to take to get Lowe?

If Lowe does sign, (which I still think is unlikely) he’d be a great #2 pitcher. The combination of Hamels, Lowe, Myers (circa 2nd half 2008) would be a fantastic start of the rotation. Blanton can continue to be an effective #4, and I think I’d still bring back Moyer. You can’t have too many starters, and this would allow Carrasco and Happ to continue to develop a bit more on schedule at AAA.

I think it is still smart to keep Moyer, even with a signing by Derek Lowe (which would be quite a nice surprise). We were spoiled last year to have one of, if not the, healthiest pitching staffs in the majors.
-We had a 45 yo play the whole season
-An injury-a-season guy pitch over 220 in Hamels
-A closer that never had to sit for anything other than pitch count.
-A remarkably healthy bullpen altogether.

Literally no one got hurt. The best idea is to try and have Moyer as a 5th starter and then if, and most likely when, someone gets hurt you have a myriad of choices (Carrasco, Happ, Kendrick, Ea…well you’ve got those three). So it would be smart to have that kind of depth. That’s the kind of thing that true contenders do. If you remember the Red Sox brought up Bucholtz(sp) to pitch a no-hitter two seasons ago. So it’s nice having good (even proven) talent sitting and waiting in the minors. Quite a luxury.

Its going to cost a FORTUNE to get him… espc if the Yankees dont get Sabathia.

It might be a good thing we beat him in the postseason, he knows firsthand how good our lineup and defense are.. and im sure he’d rather play here then deal with those scumbag NY fans

Id be aggressive now though, which is what Amaro is doing with Lowe. Thats what the Braves are doing with Burnett. Because The yankees are floundering around waiting for sabathia and texeira. While theyre occupied, which wont be fort much younger, youve gotta swoop in there and grab lowe out from under their noses. the braves will grab burnett with 5 years…so the yankees will be pissed when they lose all three of those guys AND the cubs trade for jake peavy.

look for the yankees to overpay for oliver perez and trade for another starter after free agency blows up in their face. i sitll think theyll sign texeira.

for the phillies…once the yankees jump in after lowe forget it…unless hell take less (15-16mm) to stay in the NL. the braves know that too, thats why they went for 5 years of burnett.

they offered arb and hes type A, the phillies will lose a first round pick. but its worth it for lowe.

Maybe this is why the Phillies did not offer arbitration… maybe they have some extra money budgeted towards a headline pitcher like Lowe (or Sheets).

Lowe already won a championship in 2004 with the Red Sox. Lowe is looking for 15-16 million a year.

If the Phillies do sign Lowe, then I understand why they didn’t offer Burrell arbitration, but they’re not going to outbid the Yankees and Red Sox for Lowe.

well, if the Red Sox don’t sign Lowe, it’s probably because they signed Teixeira. The Red Sox will only sign Tex, if the Yankees sign Sabathia and then the Yanks wouldn’t be able to sign. If the Yanks sign Sabathia and the Red Sox sign Tex, then the Angels may have to go for a big bat-Dunn or Burrell. If all this happens, then the Phillies would still have to outbid the Mets and other teams for Lowe.
So, a lot of things have to go right for Lowe to become a Phillie. Lowe was also quoted as saying that the first question he asked Boras this offseason was about signing with the Red Sox.

I would love to have Lowe but I don’t know if I would love having him if it means that Jamie’s not coming back. You can’t put a pricetag on the intangibles that Moyer brings to our ballclub. It has been well documented that Hamels and Ruiz have benefited from his wisdom. If we’re going to have to rely on a young rookie as a fifth starter, I would feel much better with Jamie in the clubhouse. Further, I could be wrong but I think that Blanton gained something by working with him too (something that hasn’t been talked about)… he pitched well for us but his biggest problem is that he struggled to pitch with a lead (would get a 4 run lead and then give up 3 runs in the next inning). I think that Jamie said something to cure that problem… I think that we saw the light go on in the playoffs and I would hate to see him lose that edge.

I read something that said if the Phillies can get Moyer on a Wakefield type deal (recurring $4 million option) then he’s an asset for the Phils, but if they have to pay him market value, they’d be better off letting him walk.

Lowe will sign with the highest bidder………Yankees or Sox.

If the Phillies weren’t so historically cheap, I’d be glad to add Lowe, but if they sign him, that automatically closes the door on Howard or Hamels getting a contract extension.

I’d rather go with Moyer and Happ/Carrasco.

MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that Derek Lowe is the BACKUP option should they be unable to resign Jamie Moyer, that’s kind of odd that Lowe would be a backup option to Moyer.

Yeah right Gavin. What do you know? You’d rather go with Happ/Carrasco than Lowe? Thats great baseball IQ. Howard will never sign an extension. Hamels won’t for at least another year. By the the time Hamels gears up for an extension Lowe will either be gone or in the last year of his Phils contract and Howard will be batting fourth for the Yankees or Angels.

They’re not going to extend Hamels or Howard this year anyway – the first guys Amaro decided to talk extension with were Werth and Madson. That makes sense, since both are FAs after this year. Hard to see Madson signing an extension, but Werth might and it would be a good idea to ink him to a 3 or 4-year deal.

As many have discussed, I don’t think the Phils will ever extend Howard – the price tag is too high for uncertain future production. Hamels is under control for a long while, and budget-wise it makes more sense to talk extension in a year or two when lots of money is off the books (Eaton, Thome, Helms, maybe Myers and Feliz) rather than this year when things are tight given all the arb raises due and the need to sign a LF and a pitcher or two.

Going after Lowe is smart, even if he signs elsewhere in the end. With Burrell likely to leave, the Phils have two basic options – attempt to replace his offense or attempt to improve the pitching staff to offset the offensive decrease. Right now, the pitching market is far better than the OF market, and if we can get Lowe signed then we can afford a platoon in left.

This is a question from an ESPN chat with Keith Law:

“Carl (philly): Reports out of Boston and Philly have the Phils making an offer to D Lowe. Any chance he could land there?

SportsNation Keith Law: (1:20 PM ET ) Yes but I bet he waits till the Yankees sign a starter (or get snubbed by Sabathia and Burnett) to see if they’ll be motivated to up the price.”

I am on his jock because:

1) He’s old so he won’t get a lot of years. Nobody will give him 4.
2) If he beomes ineffective as a starter you can always make him your set up guy;
3. He’s a sinker baller;
4. Pitches a lotta innings;
5. We had sex once.

The Dipsy

Thats correct. You basically sign guys to extensions AFTER arbitration when you know what their projected value will be after a year or two of arb. theyll sign hamels after arbitration durin gor right after next season when they know what hell command as market baseline salary. then you jump on it early and try to get hometown discount. thats why madson and werth are going to get resigned first…

which begs the point, i dont necessarily agree in going all early with players like they did with braun and longoria. now, will braun work ? probably. but longoria? yes hes good, but why sign a player to a huge long contract if you dont have to and you dont know taht he can play well consistenyl for years because theres no body of work.

This is awesome that we are making a play for a major FA pitcher! For once, we are a team that players would want to play for us and not use us as leverage. The biggest knock on CBP (and Coors Field) was that they were bandboxes and no pitcher would want to pitch here. And who were the NL’s last two representatives in the WS? Exactly. Screw John Smoltz! (Love him though)

Lowe would be an excellent addition to this rotation. He wants to win now too. So, he wants to sign with a Northeast team and he will decide between us and Boston. I don’t think the Yankees, even if they sign CC (+Derek or AJ), will be winning next year. They have too many holes.

Bring on Derek and Moyer will re-sign then take Dubee’s place in 2010.

anyone feel that having a player on the team (madson) helps with talks with boras for any of the other players he reps? amaro talks to madson about a deal, soon after he’s knocking on the door of another player represented by boras? POS is rolling in the green.

maybe this was brought up, i didnt read too many posts yet

I would love to have Lowell…But I wouldnt mind having Moyer back for a couple of years either..I think Megary above hit it right on the head.

I agree with Griffin (and the KLaw reference). This is great to be in on Lowe, but Boras is going to wait on the Yanks and Red Sox (or both) to get involved. It’s still a longshot. I just hope the offer is legit, and I’m going to assume that it is, though I doubt it’s for more than 3 years. Lowe would have to be intrigued to pitch in front of a great infield and be supported by a great offense (he won 14 last year without either), even if he’s at the Bank for half his starts. If it means not getting Moyer, then so be it. I think Lowe could win 20 with us. But let’s be real, this is likely his last contract, and he’ll be looking for all he can get. We’ll have to get lucky for things to fall our way (like, Yanks get CC and Tex and Sox decide they have enough pitching).