Lowe certainly is a gamble.

He might give the Tribe some good starts in the early part of the year or he could be completely washed up like the Braves think he is.

An interesting trade for sure and $5mil isn't much for a back of the rotation inning eater.

I doubt this trade gets made if Carrasco was healthy however.

Can't remember the last time the Indians made any noise this early in the off season.

I hope they can come up with a decent bat somewhere along the line.

The Braves have a reputation for knowing pitching, so I am leery of this deal, although it was cheap enough for the Indians.

One thing is certain. Chris Antonetti is no Mark Shapiro clone.

Antonetti is obviously more aggressive - and at the major league level too.

If they saved $9 mill or so on Grady, this (Lowe) could be where $5 mill of that is spent? If they can get a solid hitter for the other $4 mill I personally think that would be better than gambling on Grady for next year.

2 players for one injured one?

I loved Derek Lowe for us a few seasons ago.

We often talk about needing an "innings eater" around here, and it's important to note Lowe has averaged over 33 starts in each of the past 10 seasons. In fact he led the league in starts in 2005, 2008, 2009 AND 2011.

For 2011, in 19 of his 34 starts he gave up 3 runs or less.

It looks the key to using him in 2012 is to watch him closely in each outing, and have a quick hook and rested pen ready. I think he projects as a 5+ inning guy in his best use.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... &year=2011

From Braves writer Mark Bowman:

Texted a # Braves player to tell him Lowe had been traded to Indians. His reply, "For? A couple visits to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?"

TDU wrote:From Braves writer Mark Bowman:

Texted a # Braves player to tell him Lowe had been traded to Indians. His reply, "For? A couple visits to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?"

I call BS on the Mark Bowman claim. Just glancing at the roster of the Braves, if true, it would likely be Linebrink or Hudson as the players most likely to quickly retort and know The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland.

That's "profiling," on my part of course. Factoring in age, and country of origin.

With a nod to Criminal Minds, George Sherrill also fits the profile, but I have no idea why Mark Bowman would have bothered to text him.

I like the idea of having Carmona and Lowe at the tail end of that rotation. Knowing that he's not the go-to guy (ace) should take a big load from Carmona's shoulders. I expect another turnaround for Fausto in 2012.

Lowe signing is OK but that's all. It gives Gomez and Barnes 15 starts in AAA and let's see where Rondon is health wise after 10 starts. Atleast we can send out 5 legit guys in the rotation. Now we need to find a solid bat and spend some more $$$.

I like Chris A so far. He WANTS to win!!!!

I would have taken anyone as a general manager as long as his name was not Shapiro.

Did Lowe pitch against us in the 95 ALDS?

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?conte ... 6&c_id=cle

Antonetti on Lowe.

I don't believe in curses, but if Sizemore gives his new team 150 games and Lowe gets injured in April, I'm going to start to wonder.

I would be amazed if Grady plays more than 75 games next year.