Updated at 3:05 PM…
Color me concerned about this whole Derek Lowe thing. Says Jon Heyman of SI.com,
The Mets and free-agent pitcher Derek Lowe are said to remain far apart in negotiations after Lowe’s agent, Scott Boras, met with Mets owner Jeff Wilpon, GM Omar Minaya and an assistant GM John Ricco Wednesday.
Original post…
RHP Derek Lowe, key target for the Mets at the moment, is set to meet with the Atlanta Braves according to Boston.com. So far, the only outstanding offer to the free agent pitcher is a 3-year, $36 million deal with the Mets, which Scott Boras Lowe has yet to accept.
With John Smoltz looking like he’s headed to Boston, the Braves are looking to bolster their pitching staff. This type of move makes all the sense in the world to them, which worries me. Lowe is absolutely the guy the Mets should get, and I believe they have to get a little less cocky and up the offer a bit to ensure that he doesn’t go anywhere else, let alone a division rival. If Lowe goes, I can see the Mets possibly overpaying for the erratic Oliver Perez, who I don’t trust against teams not named the Yankees or Braves (For a different take on Perez to the Mets, check out this recent post by Andrew Beaton).
In a report for Newsday, Ken Davidoff mentions the Mets’ meet-up with super agent Scott Boras and details how the team is not significantly closer to signing either Lowe or Boras’ other desirable client, Oliver Perez.
A person familiar with the get-together said that the discussion focused on Boras’ two top-flight starting pitchers, Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez. While the Mets are still confident that they’ll sign one of the pair, they’re not close to an agreement with Boras.
The report by Davidoff goes on to mention that the Mets will send a scout to California to watch RHP Chad Cordero throw.
Interesting, but let’s focus. Lowe first, then we can concentrate on “bits and pieces” like Cordero.
Pete Lappin (3)
