Indians acquire Derek Lowe

[Post Count Padder]

@JohnKreger John Kreger

Creditable sources inform me that #Braves P Derek Lowe is being informed as we speak that he has been traded to the #Indians

 

First trade of the offseason?

[mookie]

Groovy. This is going to be a very entertaining off season.

[Cubs Fan Dan]

Indians Acquire Derek Lowe

By Tim Dierkes [October 31 at 11:38am CST]

The Indians acquired Derek Lowe from the Braves, tweets John Kreger. The Braves will pay all but $5MM of Lowe's $15MM salary, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Olney says the Braves will receive a second-line player in return.

 

Lowe, 38, posted a 5.05 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 0.67 HR/9, and 59% groundball rate in 187 innings this year for Atlanta. Lowe's Braves career ended on a sour note, as his 8.75 September ERA contributed to their collapse. Still, his groundball rate ranked second in all of baseball. Lowe signed a four-year, $60MM deal with the Braves in January of 2009.

 

With Lowe, Justin Masterson, and Fausto Carmona, the Indians' rotation now has three of the top seven in 2011 groundball rate. Ubaldo Jimenez and Josh Tomlin are also penciled in, with Carlos Carrasco down for Tommy John surgery.

 

For the Braves, the benefit is $5MM in much-needed salary relief for a pitcher otherwise projected for middle relief on their 2012 club.

 

Per MLBTR...

 

 

Probably gives us an idea of what the Cubs would need to eat to trade some of their contracts. Z is definitely younger and better than Lowe and this point though.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Not earth shattering, but it's a pretty big move for this early in the offseason.

[Clem Fandango]

I know several Braves fans who are going to be very happy about this. They hate Derek Lowe

[jersey cubs fan]

what is a second-line player? Patrick Sharp?

[Little Slide Rooter]

Indians Acquire Derek Lowe

By Tim Dierkes [October 31 at 11:38am CST]

The Indians acquired Derek Lowe from the Braves, tweets John Kreger. The Braves will pay all but $5MM of Lowe's $15MM salary, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Olney says the Braves will receive a second-line player in return.

 

 

For that price I'd have taken him for a year.

 

 

Probably gives us an idea of what the Cubs would need to eat to trade some of their contracts. Z is definitely younger and better than Lowe and this point though.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Indians Acquire Derek Lowe

By Tim Dierkes [October 31 at 11:38am CST]

The Indians acquired Derek Lowe from the Braves, tweets John Kreger. The Braves will pay all but $5MM of Lowe's $15MM salary, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Olney says the Braves will receive a second-line player in return.

 

 

For that price I'd have taken him for a year.

 

 

Probably gives us an idea of what the Cubs would need to eat to trade some of their contracts. Z is definitely younger and better than Lowe and this point though.

[seanhopper]

<>

 

As you mentioned, this is likely a good indicator of what Theo/Hoyer can expect in terms of salary relief for Zambrano. Zambrano has age and health on his side, but he's a loose cannon that may not last a season because of his personality vs. his health. It's a tough call for a team, even with a lower salary.

At least Lowe is off of the market and cannot be used as leverage for another team looking for SP. Other teams will want to see at least 4-5 games of Zambrano in winter ball before doing anything, so I don't believe we'll see this Zambrano situation resolved quickly.

[jersey cubs fan]

For people saying this shows you what sort of salary relief will come with a Zambrano trade, would you care to elaborate?

 

Are you saying teams will be willing to take on $5m of Zambrano's deal?

[UMFan83]

what is a second-line player? Patrick Sharp?

 

I chuckled

[Guest]

Not Frank Wren's finest hour here.

[treebird]

the braves were 14th in defensive efficiency last year, and the indians were 19th. lowe is pretty obviously a guy who is going to need a lot of help from his defense if he's going to be worthwhile at all, and cleveland doesn't seem like a team that's going to give it to him, unless asdrubal cabrera wants to get a lot better defensively really fast.

[davearm2]

For people saying this shows you what sort of salary relief will come with a Zambrano trade, would you care to elaborate?

 

Are you saying teams will be willing to take on $5m of Zambrano's deal?

That was my conclusion... Cubs can get out from under ~$5M.

[Cubs Fan Dan]

For people saying this shows you what sort of salary relief will come with a Zambrano trade, would you care to elaborate?

 

Are you saying teams will be willing to take on $5m of Zambrano's deal?

That was my conclusion... Cubs can get out from under ~$5M.

 

I was more thinking teams would consider taking on probably a 3rd of the salary or close to 7 million to give anything up. I think the Cubs could get more than a B/C level prospect if they eat that amount but I think it just points out that keeping Z is best for this team.

[Guest]

Lowe being 8 years older than Z probably has just a little bit of impact on how much teams will pay for their services. Plus, this is just a piss-poor move for Atlanta. Lowe may have faded last year but was still a 2+ win pitcher that they basically gave away.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

2nd line player eh? Anyone else notice that baseball and football have started using each other's terminology a little more lately? Maybe I'm crazy...this is a poor example too since "second line" isn't really a common football term...but I've read "gameplan" associated with baseball in the past year or so way more than I should...

 

Good thing someone mentioned the GB rates too...solid staff out there in Cleveland.

[Clem Fandango]

Lowe being 8 years older than Z probably has just a little bit of impact on how much teams will pay for their services. Plus, this is just a piss-poor move for Atlanta. Lowe may have faded last year but was still a 2+ win pitcher that they basically gave away.

 

The amount of animosity Braves fans had for that man was palpable. Combine that with the fact that the Braves have superior options coming up through their system to replace him (Teheran, Delgado, Minor, etc), and the fact that they would've ended up moving him to the bullpen, he was an obvious bet to get dealt. No point in having a $15 million long reliever on your staff

[brinoch]

what is a second-line player? Patrick Sharp?

 

I chuckled

 

That's a handsome second-line player to you.

[Guest]

Lowe being 8 years older than Z probably has just a little bit of impact on how much teams will pay for their services. Plus, this is just a piss-poor move for Atlanta. Lowe may have faded last year but was still a 2+ win pitcher that they basically gave away.

 

The amount of animosity Braves fans had for that man was palpable. Combine that with the fact that the Braves have superior options coming up through their system to replace him (Teheran, Delgado, Minor, etc), and the fact that they would've ended up moving him to the bullpen, he was an obvious bet to get dealt. No point in having a $15 million long reliever on your staff

 

I'm quite certain someone would have paid more than 5 million to have Derek Lowe for one year. We'll never know though, because Atlanta traded him and 10 million for nothing on the first day of the offseason.

[brinoch]

Lowe being 8 years older than Z probably has just a little bit of impact on how much teams will pay for their services. Plus, this is just a piss-poor move for Atlanta. Lowe may have faded last year but was still a 2+ win pitcher that they basically gave away.

 

The amount of animosity Braves fans had for that man was palpable. Combine that with the fact that the Braves have superior options coming up through their system to replace him (Teheran, Delgado, Minor, etc), and the fact that they would've ended up moving him to the bullpen, he was an obvious bet to get dealt. No point in having a $15 million long reliever on your staff

 

Still, you're paying him $10M to pitch somewhere else.

[davearm2]

Lowe being 8 years older than Z probably has just a little bit of impact on how much teams will pay for their services. Plus, this is just a piss-poor move for Atlanta. Lowe may have faded last year but was still a 2+ win pitcher that they basically gave away.

 

The amount of animosity Braves fans had for that man was palpable. Combine that with the fact that the Braves have superior options coming up through their system to replace him (Teheran, Delgado, Minor, etc), and the fact that they would've ended up moving him to the bullpen, he was an obvious bet to get dealt. No point in having a $15 million long reliever on your staff

 

I'm quite certain someone would have paid more than 5 million to have Derek Lowe for one year. We'll never know though, because Atlanta traded him and 10 million for nothing on the first day of the offseason.

The first day of the Braves' offseason was like a month ago. I have no idea how many teams they discussed Lowe with, but I'd be pretty confident it was more than just the Indians.

[Clem Fandango]

Lowe being 8 years older than Z probably has just a little bit of impact on how much teams will pay for their services. Plus, this is just a piss-poor move for Atlanta. Lowe may have faded last year but was still a 2+ win pitcher that they basically gave away.

 

The amount of animosity Braves fans had for that man was palpable. Combine that with the fact that the Braves have superior options coming up through their system to replace him (Teheran, Delgado, Minor, etc), and the fact that they would've ended up moving him to the bullpen, he was an obvious bet to get dealt. No point in having a $15 million long reliever on your staff

 

Still, you're paying him $10M to pitch somewhere else.

 

But they're also saving $5 million and are able to replace what he was inevitably going to do internally for probably league minimum. To-may-to, To-mah-to. That, plus cutting ties with McLouth, just netted them about $15 million extra to spend this upcoming season on different areas of importance.

 

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer in this debate, I think arguments can easily be made for both sides, it just all came down to what the Braves preferred to do.

[dew1679666265]

Not Frank Wren's finest hour here.

 

Still ranks below the awful Yunel for Alex Gonzalez deal. Wren's made some really confusing decisions as GM.

[NonProfitCow]

Lowe being 8 years older than Z probably has just a little bit of impact on how much teams will pay for their services. Plus, this is just a piss-poor move for Atlanta. Lowe may have faded last year but was still a 2+ win pitcher that they basically gave away.

 

The amount of animosity Braves fans had for that man was palpable. Combine that with the fact that the Braves have superior options coming up through their system to replace him (Teheran, Delgado, Minor, etc), and the fact that they would've ended up moving him to the bullpen, he was an obvious bet to get dealt. No point in having a $15 million long reliever on your staff

1 - Braves fans don't really exist

2 - They definitely could have gotten more in terms of players and money for him.