Braves Sign Derek Lowe

by Charlie Wilmoth on Jan 13, 2009 2:42 PM EST

To a four-year, $60 million deal, ESPN reports.

Lowe's a very good, durable pitcher, but this strikes me as a lot of money to pay a guy who's 35 and not a superstar. This signing is consistent with what Ryan Dempster and A.J. Burnett got, but at this price I'd probably rather take a chance on a cheaper deal for an older pitcher, like the Giants did with Randy Johnson.

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Lowe is a jackass.

I wouldn’t want him at any price, much less $15M a year.

by Vlad on Jan 13, 2009 2:47 PM EST reply actions

Yeah, he doesn’t have that fiery personality we need like Mientkiewicz, right ;)

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Jan 13, 2009 4:07 PM EST up reply actions

I just don't like guys who get punchy with women.

He was arrested for beating his girlfriend while he was still in the minors with the Mariners, and then he violated a protective order she took out against him. He’s also a big-time drunk, and he left his wife and kids (over the phone!) to take up with a female clubhouse reporter in LA (and supposedly was particularly public and classless about cheating on her on numerous occasions before that).

by Vlad on Jan 13, 2009 4:24 PM EST up reply actions

Fair enough

I’ve just never see you talk about anything beyond the numbers.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Jan 13, 2009 4:31 PM EST up reply actions

This is more of a personal preference.

By the numbers, he’s a pretty good pitcher. But there are some types of known information that can’t be input into predictive models, and a self-destructive personality is one of those things. That’s why I don’t want to replace all our scouts with android replacements, even though they’d probably be a lot cheaper.

And before someone brings up Milton Bradley: I’ve looked at the situations of both guys, and while Bradley’s history with his ex-wife gives me pause, there’s enough ambiguity in that particular case that I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now (two of the times the police came to his house, for example, they did so because Bradley called them – not his wife). It’s admittedly a subjective judgment made as an outsider, and might be wrong, but I have to work with the best information at hand when I make decisions.

by Vlad on Jan 13, 2009 4:42 PM EST up reply actions

I had no idea that Lowe was such an ass...

thanks for the scoop, Vlad! I wouldn’t want him on the Pirates at any price, either….

it’s a wonder that Tony LaRussa didn’t convince St Louis to offer Lowe a contract… or maybe the sale of A-B to InBev makes St Louis less attractive to drunks in general?

by gonfalon on Jan 13, 2009 5:49 PM EST up reply actions

Heh.

by Vlad on Jan 13, 2009 11:11 PM EST up reply actions

I wondered why people referred to him negatively as a person. Did you see that tape of Brian Giles in a bar with his ex?

by ol Pete on Jan 13, 2009 6:36 PM EST up reply actions

I did.

And it didn’t improve my opinion of him, that’s for sure. I enjoyed watching him play, I admire a lot of the things he did on the field, and now that the story’s public I’m glad that he’s someone else’s problem.

by Vlad on Jan 13, 2009 11:11 PM EST up reply actions