OK, so that’s not really a Phillies rumor, but it affects us, and affects me personally. The rumor, being reported by ESPN, is that the Mets have offered Lowe a remarkably reasonable contract of 3 years, $36 million. Or, the same years, and only $8 million more than we gave the incomparable Adam Eaton. Originally, his agent, Scott Boras, had requested 5 years, $80 million and several teams understandably balked.
Lowe was the one player I wanted the Phillies to go after in the off-season, and if he ends up with the Mets, at a fair price, it’s not going to make me happy at all. If Lowe can be had on a 3-year deal the Phillies need to use the extra revenue from the playoff run and the expected revenue from the raised ticket prices and higher attendance in 2009 to outbid the Mets and make this happen. It would likely put them over their self-made salary cap, but a reasonable contract for a true #2 starter who happens to be a ground ball pitcher and who is negotiating with your chief rival (who has already improved more than you have) is the type of situation where you make an exception.
If Lowe ends up with the Mets, my “no cursing on the blog” rule might be broken in spectacular fashion. Discuss amongst yourselves.
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
As a Yankee fan I keep hoping Lowe winds up in pinstripes. Heck yes we are going to buy a World Series it’s been 9 long years
Pete, I broke that rule last week. Life of Philadelphia sports fan. I think it’s all out of my system now.
How would this compare to how you felt when the Mets got Santana last off-season?
mike d- if i could ban you for a week for being a yankees fan, I would.
dannie-
the lowe signing wouldn’t be as bad, partially because I LOVED johan on the Twins and I hate when players I love go to the Mets or Yankees. however, the additions of K-Rod/Putz/Lowe vs. our additions of Ibanez/Park would be the 2nd straight off-season the Mets (seemingly) improved more than we did. if it keeps going like this, eventually they are going to pass us.
I’m very adamant that we need to take advantage of what we have (Utley, Rollins, Howard, Hamels in their prime) while we have it, because it’s unlikely it will happen again anytime soon once they are gone. You can’t operate as if these guys are going to be around forever.
I think I’m torn on this one. I would certainly love to see them grow a pair and go after Lowe and put him in RED pinstripes for a couple years. Offer 4 years/$60 mil or something along those lines. It would solidify our rotation and make us the best we can be right now to defend our title.
On the other hand, I can’t forget what the Phils did aginst Lowe in the NLCS. He was not dominant and to my recollection (correct me if I’m wrong), they made him look like an overpaid, average starting pitcher. If this is truely what he is at this point in his career, let the Mutts overpay him and lets light him up for 3 years.
Pete, we just won the World Series, pipe down.
ha, fair enough Stu. maybe I need some ice water thrown on my face.
BUT – I think we could repeat with a rotation of Hamels, Lowe, Myers, Blanton and Moyer. And like I said, we have to take advantage of what we have, while we have it.
AND – I want very badly for Ruben Amaro to be a good GM and spending $31 million on Ibanez when we could have had Lowe for $36 million would shake my confidence in him from the start.
I will now go watch my World Champions DVD at lunch and calm the hell down.
Dannie…Lowe signing with the Mets would bother me much more than them getting Santana. Santana was never anything more than a pipe dream for us. There was no way in the world we were going to surrender a fistful of prospects and give 6 years to a pitcher and pay him a salary escalating from $19 mil to $25.5 mil over the life of the contract.
On the other hand, Lowe is a very realistic get. He has been sitting out there for a while and if 3 years will get him, it’s a big mistake for the Phils to not get it done, IMO. I found an update on mlbtraderumors.com stating that the Mets will probably need to raise their offer a bit but that their ceiling is 3 years, $40 mil. It also says that The Phils, Red Sox, and Yankees are not interested. I think we are going to regret passing on him.
Phillies are my #2 team, and in a different league…so don’t ban me yet. Lowe is an easy get for the Phillies, cheap and you don’t give anything up, keeps your in-division rival from getting better and is a natural for the Park. I’d be shocked if the Phillies let him get away.
I agree with Pete; I hate to see players I love go to teams I hate. That said as a Mets fan I was pissed that Ibanez signed so early. The dude is a great hitter. The Phil’s improved greatly in LF in my opinion with that signing.
The only teams in the NL that have more talent then the Mets are the Cubs and the Phil’s. Lowe would tip the balance some more but the team chemistry the Phil’s have right now is great. You have stars (J-Roll, Uttley, Howard, Hamels) , veterans (Moyer, Lidge, Myers, Jenkins, Feliz, now Ibanez) and grinders (Victorino, Worth, Ruiz, Brutlett, Dobbs) just like the 90’s Yankees did. The Mets are closer but the Phil’s are still the team to beat. IMO the Phil’s are built more as a WIN NOW team then the Mets are. This could be a fun year to watch a great head to head all the way to the end. My hope is Putz and K-Rod make the difference.
43 day until pitchers and catchers report.
Pedro-
Ibanez/Moyer or [J.Michaels/Jenkins] /Lowe is it that bad. Considering budget restraints a possible 25 hr,100 rbi guy is a nice addition, I love Lowe but I still feel he will get 4 years somewhere, which I don!t believe the Phillies would give anyway.
I still think that we need to reserve that 5th starter spot to groom a young guy. Moyer has to be a 4th starter so once we re-signed him, that pretty much ended our pursuit of Lowe. Happ and Carrasco (and maybe even Kendrick and some others) deserve to compete for that spot in the major league rotation and are much cheaper options. Young pitching needs a chance to succeed, just buying a rotation never seems to work. If we signed a 34 year old Lowe (or whatever he is) for multiple years, what happens to developing a young starter? All of our starters would be signed through 2010. We’d end up trading one of them in a deadline deal without ever realizing their potential (which is what Ed Wade tried to do with Ryan Howard for Kip Wells a few years ago, we are all lucky that didn’t happen). Think about it. The Mets will still be the Melts in September, until they win a World Series, we will be better than them. They are the ones playing catch up, not us.
stu-
here’s how I see it. there are only 2 young starters in our system ready to contribute right now. Carrasco and Happ. Myers contract is up after this year. I say throw Carrasco in there in 2010. Happ would make the team as a long reliever and then come in for whoever gets injured first. if we signed lowe, our rotation would look like this
2009- Hamels, Lowe, Myers, Blanton, Moyer
2010- Hamels, Lowe, Blanton, Carrasco, Moyer
2011- Hamels, Lowe, Carrasco, Happ, TBD
as of now, its
2009- Hamels, Myers, Blanton, Moyer, Happ
2010- Hamels, Blanton, Carrasco, Happ, TBD
2011- Hamels, Carrasco, Happ, TBD, TBD
I think the phillies are probably holding out on lowe b/c they still have to lockup howard,hamels, and madson long term. And potentially Brett. I’m with Stu on this one.
Pete: it all hinges on whether the phillies want Myers long term or not. that would show us whether he made a dumb move or not conserning Ibanez and Moyer. i feel ur pain; if Lowe goes to the Mets for reasonable dollars it will be a balk on Amaro’s part. but Stu has a point; a free agent pitcher coming off a playoff run as the team’s ace, he would be looking for a 4yr plus deal. so maybe it hurts us long term.
MD: there was a blog piece on foxsports that went into “why we love to hate the yankees”. u read it? i did and agreed with it. but i’m still pissed at you just for saying that. yeah thats kinda how much we hate the Yankees. i would advise you to keep the information personal next time.
I would advise again against unproven prospects; Happ is the only prospect we have as far as I am concerned. We should act like that; Lowe should have been a top priority and a new Myers contract should be strongly considered (maybe his ego has tempered a lil bit his asking price would be reasonable)
In case anybody checks in, here is an update from mlbtraderumors.com on the Lowe situation:
——Kat O’Brien of Newsday is reporting that the Mets’ negotiations with Lowe are expected to heat up this week.
——Scott Boras says that the alleged 3-year, $36 mil offer was never made by the Mets.
——-John Heyman says that Lowe is looking for $16 mil per season and that the Phillies and Braves are in the mix.
——-It is also being reported that it is unlikely that the Braves would top the offer the Mets might or might not have made.
For whatever it’s worth, we (the fans) can still hold out hope that The Phils will step up and get Lowe.