Buzz: Lowe Wants to Stay in Atlanta, Crawford Could Stay in Tampa
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says Derek Lowe wants to stay in Atlanta, and doesn’t want to be traded.
According to Cafardo, the Braves haven’t told Lowe anything regarding a trade, but he has heard to buzz in the media about the Braves looking to deal him for offense, telling Cafardo:
“I know they have holes they want to fill, and I know, from my perspective, when you pitch as poorly as I pitched, and given the caliber of the starting pitchers we have, I wouldn’t be surprised by something like that…But in terms of whether someone called me to tell me, ‘Would you be interested in being traded somewhere?’ No, I haven’t received that call.’’
…i like Lowe and believe he was the better choice than re-signing Oliver Perez a year ago, but his last two months worry me…i don’t see a scenario where the Braves would trade Lowe to the Mets or any team in the National League East…i’m not sure at this point, the commitment to dollars or the cost in talent is worth acquiring Lowe anyway…
Lowe, who does not have a no-trade clause in his current four year, $60 million contract, went 15-10 with a 4.67 ERA for Atlanta in 2009, but pitched poorly in August and September despite going 5-3.
Meanwhile, Cafardo says that while a lot of teams are interested in Carl Crawford, there may come a time when “Rays ownership bites the bullet and says this is one player they need to keep and works out a long-term commitment.”
…what this comes down to is how much Crawford will ultimately command and whether or not the Rays can afford him, so i’m not sure if Tampa has the ability to just ‘bite the bullet’ so to speak…it wouldn’t be wise to commit all available funds to Crawford if they intend to retain guys like Evan Longoria and Matt Garza for a long period of time, because then they will be handcuffed by a commitment to Crawford with no depth around him…
For more on Lowe, Crawford and other buzz from around the Majors, check out Cafardo’s article here.
