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Braves lock up Lowe for four years

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According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves and Derek Lowe have come to terms on a four-year, $60-million deal. It’s a nice contract for Lowe and a solid signing by the Braves.

Meanwhile, this is a deal that echoes through New York for a few reasons. First off, when the Yanks opted to go for A.J. Burnett instead of Lowe, I never expected the former Dodger hurler to land himself a $15-million AAV deal. It seems that I was wrong, and it seems that the market for starting pitching is a bit more robust than the market for corner outfielders.

From that four-year deal, we probably have to reevaluate the Yanks’ one-year offer to Andy Pettitte. You could very easily make the argument now than $10 million for one year of Pettitte is indeed to low. It shouldn’t take Derek Lowe money to lock up Andy, but it may take $12-$13 million guaranteed.

Second, the Mets are looking at an off-season of futility. They low-balled Lowe and never had a real chance to up their offer. Instead, one of their top divisional competitors lands one of the bigger free agent pitchers left. Now, Omar Minaya will have to dole out the bucks for Oliver Perez and probably take a good, long look at Ben Sheets’ medical reports as well.

Lowe bound for New York

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Derek Lowe is most likely New York-bound, according to numerous reports. Only this time, the other New York team gets to make a free agent splash as they sign another potential Red Sox target. While Ben Shipgel of The Times figured that Boston and the Mets would duke it out over Derek Lowe, the Boston.com staff reports that Lowe and the Mets are nearing a deal. Omar Minaya will net himself another starting pitcher for four years at around $14-$16 million a year. That’s not a bad deal for a team sorely in need of starting pitching.

Saturday night open thread: No Lowe

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So based on this post at the Central Maine Sports Blog, ESPN reporter Jerry Crasnick no longer considers the Yanks in the running for Derek Lowe. What a shock.

Interestingly enough, with the Yanks out of the picture, rumors about the Red Sox’s interest have dried up as well. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lowe wind up in Boston, but I don’t think the Red Sox are as concerned with Lowe as they were with the Yanks in on him. After all, Theo is the one who let him go in the first place. Crasnick sees Queens as the likely destination for Lowe.

Anyway, that’s about it for Yankee news tonight. Use this thread as your Saturday night open thread. Anything goes; just play nice.

Lunch time rumors: Teixeira, Burnett and Lowe

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Mike’s about to start his Rule V live-blog, but let’s sum up some Yankee rumors. The mill never stops around here.

Heyman: Yanks all in for top three pitchers

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Taking the old maxim that you can never have too much pitching, the Yankees, according to Jon Heyman, are making a play for all three top free agent hurlers. While we await word from the third meeting between CC and the Yanks, Heyman reports that the Yanks are willing to top the Braves’ four-year, $60-million offer for A.J. Burnett by adding more dollars and either a guaranteed fifth year or a vesting option. Heyman also feels the Yanks have “a good chance” at landing Derek Lowe as they are willing to go at least four years at $64 million. That’s a lotta pitching.

Update 12:19 a.m.: For those of you bemoaning Derek Lowe, Tyler Kepner has word of a different pitcher. The Times writer says that the Yanks are closing in on Ben Sheets. He doesn’t confirm or deny the Derek Lowe report, for what that’s worth.

Update 12:52 a.m.: One last update via the same Graziano piece from earlier. The NJ.com reporter says the Yanks may have floated the idea of an opt-out to Sabathia in case he truly doesn’t like New York. It’s an interesting idea, but after A-Rod burned them last year, I highly doubt the Yanks would go that route again. This may just be a sign of good faith on the part Cashman and Co.

Yankee rumors: Cano, Sabathia, Lowe, Teixeira

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Following up on everything…

  • While watching the O.J. Simpson sentencing, my eyes wandered to the ESPN crawl, and I saw some news that Yankee fans will both bemoan and appreciate. As part of the free agent transaction chain, we should now be rooting for Mark Teixeira to sign sooner rather than later. Peter Gammons reports that CC Sabathia is waiting to see what happens between Teixeira and the Angels, and Derek Lowe is waiting to see what happens with Sabathia. From a business perspective, that all makes perfect sense. Those of you impatient for no reason with the seemingly slow pace of the Hot Stove League won’t like it.
  • This news will of course rekindle the misguided line of reasoning that Sabathia hates New York and wants to pitch only for a West Coast team closer to his home. To combat that, check out Tyler Kepner’s latest. He writes:

    “It’s not that he doesn’t want to be a Yankee; that’s not it at all,” said a friend of Sabathia’s, who was granted anonymity because Sabathia had not authorized him to speak on his behalf. “It’s just the aspect of being out there, his family, that kind of stuff.”

    That’s all it is. Sabathia would prefer to be on the West Coast and is waiting to see what shakes down. If the Yanks’ offer emerges as the best, he’ll come to the Bronx with open arms. Just because he is waiting, smartly, doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be here.

  • Finally, Robinson Cano’s name keeps popping up in various rumors. The Yanks have committed a lot of resources and time to Cano this off-season, and I doubt they would move him. If they’re so inclined, however, Buster Olney has word of the asking price. The Yanks would first ask the Dodgers for Clayton Kershaw or Chad Billingsley. When they can’t get one of those two pitching studs, they’d turn their attention to Matt Kemp. In other words, Cano ain’t goin’ nowhere.

Cash, Boras talk Tex, Lowe

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As we noted, Scott Boras and Brian Cashman met yesterday to discuss some of the über-agent’s free agents. According to Tyler Kepner, Cashman met with Mark Teixeira as well, and this finally seems to confirm the Yankee interest in the man who would be, to channel Buster Olney, a great fit. No word there on an offer.

But on the Derek Lowe front, Mark Feinsand has somet developments. According to the Daily News scribe, the Yanks may be gearing up to make Lowe an offer. While Boston has also expressed interest in Lowe, I’d rather see the Yanks pursue Teixeira. Lowe doesn’t do much for me, but some of that might just be my personal reaction to him.