Lowe has been durable over the years but I've got a feeling he's at the end. Braves know pitching and they couldn't get rid of him fast enough.

I guess it comes down to whether you believe the Braves really wanted to give their young pitchers an opportunity and were looking to make room for them or as you say the guy is finished. Time will tell.

Either way $5 million doesn't buy much on the open market, so it's hardly a terminal situation if it doesn't pan out.

I do not see Derek Lowe running out of fuel if used as his track record indicates he should be.

He's not going to go deep into ball games with any consistency, if at all. I think he's good for a quality 5 innings plus a tad, for all 162.

I've mentioned before, but Acta will have to have a pen ready to go 3+ in Derek Lowe starts in order to lock the "W."

The stats show Lowe was 0-5 with an ERA over 8 last September.

Who knew?

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that MLB players and owners are close to clearing the "most significant hurdle" to a new labor deal.

The hurdle was draft-related, and Rosenthal says the new deal "is expected to include significant restraints on the amount of money teams spend on draft picks, and significant changes in draft-pick compensation for free agents." It's not clear at this point exactly what those changes are.

The current labor agreement expires on December 11, but a new five-year pact is expected to be agreed upon well before that date.

It will be interesting to see what changes they have in mind, especially regarding compensation over the loss of free agents.

It always bothered me that a rich team like Boston could basically acquire an expiring contract every year and turn that into a first or second pick in the next draft.

It's a loophole that needs closing IMO and I wonder if it has been discussed at all.

civ ollilavad wrote:The stats show Lowe was 0-5 with an ERA over 8 last September.

Looking for the silver lining, 15 of his 23 innings pitching in September were two games against Philly, and one against St. Louis.

And the WHOLE TEAM was in the process of severely melting down.

Well, that eliminates my worries!

civ ollilavad wrote:Well, that eliminates my worries!

LOL!

Take the high rode. Not the Lowe road......

ERA BY MONTH, for Lowe:

3.86 4.86 4.41 5.86 4.50 8.75 -- remember this is in the NL

Inning eater?

Never missed a start. 6 starts he got into the 7th innings, 3 he finished the 7th. In the NL pinch hitters sometimes take the starter out when he has some gas left, so I guess those numbers are OK

FWIW

ERA by Month for Carmona:

5.15 5.45 7.62 2.53 3.18 7.26

1st Half for Lowe: 4.30 for Carmona: 5.78
2nd Half for Lowe: 6.20 for Carmona: 4.59

Both of those pitchers have some track record, so it is reasonable to think they will (at least somewhat) rebound this year.

Hell, if players were always to repeat their previous seasons, a lot of players would have been out of baseball pretty darn early.

Carmona makes more than Lowe (well, actually Lowe is paid more but the Tribe is only paying $5 mill) - $5 million for a single year is quite a light investment/commitment in today's pitcher market.

I like the move personally, it has upside IMO with minimal risk. A veteran presence can't hurt either, as Orlando Cabrera demonstrated this past year.

Francisco Liriano - S - Twins

Francisco Liriano will throw about 25-30 innings in the Dominican Winter League this offseason.

Coming off a season in which he recorded just nine wins to go along with a 5.09 ERA and 1.49 WHIP, Liriano could definitely use the extra work. Minnesota had denied Liriano's request to pitch in winter ball last offseason, but apparently have changed their stance in hopes of receiving a bounce-back year from the lefty in 2012.

Guess, because of those stats this year, Liriano should be discarded because he will obviously suck next year.

With Houston coming to the American League, The Tribe will have a new road trip for a series each year. Now twice in Texas.