Starting Pitcher: Lowe wants more than Silva
Joel Sherman of the New York Post sees no way Derek Lowe accepts the three-year, $36 million offer from the Mets, which is less money and years than Carlos Silva, who signed a four-year, $48 million deal with M’s last off-season.
Sherman writes, “Lowe considers himself far superior to Silva.”
This is going to take a while. Boras, I’m sure, doesn’t want to settle, at least not before trying to stimulate a new market for his client – at the same time, I believe the Mets have no interest in going above $15 million per season. My guess is, eventually, after a long-drawn out staring contest, the Mets will have to up their offer to, say, three years, $14 million per season, and an easily attainable fourth-year option. Otherwise, if the price remains low, Boras may be able to wrangle in more teams.
The thing is, this is not last year’s economy, and the Mets will not and should not bid against themselves.
Speaking of starting pitchers…
Sherman also says the Mets had interest in Jason Marquis, who the Cubs recently traded to the Rockies.
However, Sherman writes, “The Mets are working methodically this offseason, addressing one shortcoming at a time before moving on to the next item… Now their next quest is to land a veteran starter who can pitch near the top of the rotation… Only after the Mets bring in that level of starter will they focus on other areas, such as the No. 5 starter slot.”
Sherman also blogs about Manny Ramirez and the Giants, and the Mark DeRosa deal, among other things.
