Braves Bolster Rotation: Agree to Terms With Derek Lowe

I've seen this story all over the place today, and when I found out that the Atlanta Braves gave Derek Lowe 4 years, $60M to pitch for them, I was shocked. Firstly, I was surprised that it took this long for a team to sign Lowe, but the fact that he will be getting 4/$60 is a figure that I did not believe possible for him to achieve, even with Scott Boras as his agent.

He is getting the same framework in terms of years as he did with the Dodgers, but he is getting a $24M raise overall from $36M to the new $60M. Personally, I love Lowe as a pitcher. He competes, will give you 200 innings, and keep your team in the ball game. But at the ripe age of 36, a 4/$60 deal is absurd. Then again, it shows how much teams value pitching. I wonder how much of this deal was paranoia on the part of Atlanta's front office in that they didn't want either the Mets or Phillies to pick up Lowe, and were willing to give him the type of money they gave him because of that.

Financial issues aside, the signing gives their rotation an infusion that will allow them to nurture top pitching prospect Tommy Hanson along in the Minors until they deem him ready to unleash upon the rest of the baseball world. The Braves had to make this move, having already lost icon John Smoltz to the Red Sox, and with Tom Glavine's future uncertain and Tim Hudson not expected back until August, they needed an ace to fill the void.

Lowe and his sinker should fit nicely in the spacious confines of Turner Field, and he will be backed by an offense that, while not as potent as those of the rival Phillies or Mets, should give him some solid run support.

With the Lowe addition, the rotation will look something like this for 2009:

1. Derek Lowe
2. Javier Vazquez
3. Kenshin Kawakami
4. Jair Jurrjens
5. Jorge Campillo

Lowe and Vazquez will be a potent one-two punch in the NL East, with Kawakami, Jurrjens, and Campillo looked upon to provide solid starts to help get this franchise back up to speed in the competitive NL East.

Other Little Tid Bits

• Today the Texas Rangers signed former Milwaukee Brewer closer Derrick Turnbow to a one year deal, worth $925K if he makes the Major League Roster. A low-risk, high-reward move by a team in need of a lot of pitching help.
• I was disappointed by how poorly South Carolina played in the Outback Bowl...they lost 31-10 and let Shonn Green run all over them. Oh well, at least the REAL bowls are finally starting now.
• Speaking of Bowls, I think Penn State has a good shot at beating the University of Spoiled Children, even though I must say I'm impressed with Ray Maualuga. 21-17, Penn State.

More Hot Stove News: Angels Sign Brian Fuentes, Cubs Sign Aaron Miles

Also occurring yesterday were the signings of closer Brian Fuentes by the Los Angeles Angels, and second baseman Aaron Miles by the Chicago Cubs.

Fuentes had been rumored to be the Angels' top choice of closer for quite some time now, and it was only a matter of time once K-Rod signed and once Teixeira signed that the Angels would look to ink the electric lefty. They signed him to a two year, $17.5M deal with a third year vesting option worth $9M.

Fuentes has spent his last seven years pitching in Coors Field, and has kept a respectable sub 3.50 ERA since being named the Rox' closer in 2005. During that time period, he also had more strikeouts than innings pitched for three of those four years, all while holding opponents to a sub .220 BAA.

I like the Fuentes signing for the Angels, because it gives them a replacement strikeout arm to close out games, while also giving them a lefty in a bullpen full of righties.

The Cubbies signed Aaron Miles to a two year, $4.9M deal yesterday as well. Miles has spent his last three seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, with a gradual improvement in his numbers across the board, resulting in a .317/4/31/49 year last year.

This signing just puzzles me, as the Cubs have so much talent up the middle even with Mark DeRosa now in Cleveland that locking up a guy who is not the best of the group offensively to try and replace DeRosa's production is just foolish. I do not see Miles getting more than 300 at-bats this year, if he does I'll be surprised.

MLB Hot Stove Reaction: Mark DeRosa Traded

Yesterday the news broke that the Chicago Cubs decided to free up some money by trading their ultimate utility man Mark DeRosa to the Cleveland Indians for three young pitchers. The only way that this trade would make any sense from the Cubs' perspective is that they are looking to clear salary space on the payroll for a big-time addition.

DeRosa is entering the last year of his contract, and is owed $5.5M. That is money well spent, seeing DeRosa played in 149 games last season and came up with a line of .285/21/87/103 for a guy who played just about every position on the diamond for the Cubbies last year. He should add a bit of an offensive spark to a Cleveland team that suddenly couldn't hit its way out of a paper bag. DeRosa also can exert a veteran influence on the young Indians infield, as well as replace the offensively-challenged Josh Barfield in the every-day lineup. While DeRosa won't be able to match Barfield's appearances on "Web Gems", he will easily make up for the drop-off in flashy leather with a solid bat in the top half of the lineup.

In addition, the Cubs had a plethora of middle infielders with DeRosa, Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, and Ronny Cedeno who all deserved plenty of playing time.

The combination of this trade, along with the rumored to be almost-done deal that would send Jason Marquis to the Colorado Rockies for Luis Vizcaino, freeing up approximately another $8M of payroll, would presumably allow the Cubs to sign someone like Milton Bradley to play right field and add a left-handed bat to the lineup.

Ultimately I think the trade will work out for both teams, as you can expect DeRosa's numbers to be roughly the same as they were last year, maybe a little bit higher if Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner can remember how to hit again.

MLB Hot Stove Update

There have finally been some free agents signing with teams other than the New York Yankees this past week.

Willy Taveras signed with the Cincinnati Reds for a two-year deal as of December 27th. Taveras should become the Reds new lead-off hitter, and will give this team a speed infusion and a threat on the basepaths, since he stole a league-leading 68 bases last season, despite a measely .308 OBP. He gives the Reds an everyday centerfielder as well, and his AVG and OBP should go up in the friendly confines of Great American Ballpark, as well as his Runs scored.

The Tampa Bay Rays signed Joe Nelson in an effort to help bolster their bullpen, for one year and $1.3M. Nelson spent last year with the Florida Marlins as a primary bridge to the back of the bullpen and Kevin Gregg. He had an ERA of 2.00 through 54.0 IP, allwoing just 42 hits, and an OPP AVG of .207, while striking out 60. The concensus opinion is that the Rays went after him to be an insurance policy for Troy Percival who is coming off of back surgery. We will see whether or not last season's success for Nelson was just a fluke, as his prior two seasons in the American League are unimpressive, with an ERA of 4.43 in his only full AL season in 2006.

The San Francisco Giants are looking to bolster their pitching staff, evidenced by the earlier signing of Bobby Howry, and their efforts continued as they signed Randy Johnson to a one year deal, with $8M guaranteed and the potential to reach $13M based on performance and award bonuses. Johnson gives the Giants a formidable rotation of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, and Jonathan Sanchez. The Big Unit also gives them a rotation with three Cy Young award winners, the first since the Atlanta Braves of the 1990's when they had Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and John Smoltz. I would look for Johnson's numbers to improve in the friendly confines of AT&T Park, as well as facing the dull offenses of the NL West once again. Plus, signing him to a one year deal should not blow up in the face of the Giants like Zito's contract did, ultimately it's a grea signing for the Giants though they still need a power bat.

Mark Hendrickson agreed to a deal with the Baltimore Orioles this past weekend. The 6'9" lefty spent last season with the Florida Marlins, posting a 7-8 W/L record in 19 starts, a 5.45 ERA in 133.2 IP, and a 1.69 K:BB ratio. The main point of this signing is to add a veteran presence to the rotation for the O's, as well as allowing their piching prospects more time to develop in the minor leagues rather than being rushed up to the Major League level. While Hendrickson only made 19 starts, appearing 17 times in relief, I think he should see more starts in Baltimore regardless of his numbers. They simply do not have the pitching depth to try and replace him, especially with Daniel Cabrera now in Washington. I would have to clasify this signing as a bandage, until the pitching situation can heal itself.

Finally, the Boston Red Sox have signed C Josh Bard to a one year, $1.6M deal. The Sox also signed Brad Penny to a one year, $5M deal with $3M in incentives. Bard seems to be a possible insurance policy for the catching situation in Boston, as Jason Varitek cannot catch forever. Bard had a previous stint with the Red Sox where they used him to catch Tim Wakefield, which did not turn out so well, resulting in a trade for aging Doug Mirabelli. Should Bard stay healthy, he has shown that he can hit respectibly and do an acceptable job behind the plate. Should Varitek resign with the Sox, 'Tek will most likely handle Wakefield while he splits with Bard for the rest of the rotation. As for Penny, he is a low-risk, high-reward type of signee for the Sox. Coming off a season of forearm and shoulder pain that clearly affected his performance, Penny will be looking to bounce back. Over the course of his career, Penny's ERA has been reliably between 3.00 and 4.50, in addition to getting roughly 30 starts per year, and roughly 150+ IP. He is not a strikeout machine, but will tally some up here and there. He offers depth to the Red Sox rotation, which would now look like: Beckett, Matsuzaka, Lester, Penny, Wakefield and would allow Justin Masterson to stay in the bullpen in middle-relief or setup. Plus it means the Sox don't have to rush Michael Bowden or Clay Buchholz to the Majors to help fill out either the rotation or the bullpen.