Derek Lowe to the Dodgers?

[MaineDem]

I heard this morning that LA is going to pay him gazillions of dollars to move there. Something like $35M! Good luck to the Dodgers! Personally, I don't think he's worth that.

[Racenut20]

1. That's OK. The Dodgers deserve it.

[Caution]

2. He showed some backbone in the playoffs

but up to that point he had literally been the WORST starter in MLB over the course of the season. By just about every statistical measure you can come up with. I wish him luck and I hope he has success in the future and if I ever see him in person, I'll buy him dinner or a beer or whatever because his playoff performance was a big part making THE BOSTON RED SOX WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS! (I still get giddy just thinking about it

This said, $35 million is a major overpayment for a guy who when you come right down to it is completely unreliable. his track record has been decent year, good year, bad year, GREAT year, TERRIBLE year, great playoffs. I'll be sad to see a part of the greatest Red Sox team in history go, but they are defeinitely doing the right thing in letting him go.

[joeybee12]

3. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

They can't take the cutest Red Sox!

[Zenlitened]

8. I agree! First Nomar, now Derek. If they ever trade Johnny Damon...

... all my favorites will be gone!

[joeybee12]

14. I'll die I tells ya, DIE, if Johnny Jesus goes!

I think he's an interesting character, and very NOT full of himself!

[WilliamPitt]

4. He will do well in the NL

I was hoping they'd send him somewhere where the fans aren't rabid about baseball, because he is not a pressure guy in the regular season. This might fit the bill. A sinkerball pitcher in the smallball league, he will win 20 games...

...if he stays sober. It is widely whispered among the bartenders in Boston that Derek has developed a bad bottle problem. He was either drunk or hung over for a bunch of his starts last year, a side-effect from his inability to handle pressure. What you saw in the playoffs was Sober Derek. May he maintain that sobriety, so that he can become the great pitcher that is inside him.

[joeybee12]

5. Yeah, then he better go--now that they have Wells, can't have too

many heavy drinkers on the team!

Are you sure it was sober Lowe we saw? Maybe he does better when he's drinking, kind of like Wells?

[WilliamPitt]

6. Well,

he was Drunk Lowe throughout the season, and he was terrible. So...

[joeybee12]

7. Maybe he turned a corner with his drinking...

...and if he did, then I hope the Sox keep him!

Don't think they will, though.

[WilliamPitt]

9. No, he's gone

And leaving is as much his decision as it was theirs. He was gone the moment they benched him for the playoffs. One of the other reasons he did so well is because he was pissed.

[cruadin]

12. Whatever the reason (being pissed off or sober)...

the Derek Lowe that pitched in the series was a different character than had shown up on the hill all season.

I've always seen that his biggest problem is his confidence and poise on the mound. Most of his teammates consider him the best all-around athlete on the team. The physical aspect of pitching has never been his problem.

Watching him, you can see when he starts to lose the concentration/focus that a winning pitcher needs. He communicates it with his elbow-flailing walks around the mound and his general demeanor. The opposing hitters see it too.

I hope he doesn't crawl into a bottle to find the composure he needs. He has the potential to have a really solid career, maybe he'll find it in LA.

But----$35M?? If that's true, then better LA than Boston, because there's no way Lowe is worth $35m.

[hijinx87]

11. Dodger Stadium is a major pitcher's park.

seriously. check out the park effects.

. . . and LA has a long tradition for other-than-sober players.

[hijinx87]

10. I've heard everything from 4yrs @ $32 million to $36 million

I'm not wild about the fourth year; he's 31. this doesn't sound like our GM -- he's a disciple of billy beane -- this sounds like our new owner.

AND they're apparently still trying to dump shawn green and his $16 million dollar salary for this coming year.

there was a rumor in LA that the dodgers were working on a trade for
AJ burnett . . . now THAT would have been interesting.

[hijinx87]

13. everything that I've read indicates that the Lowe deal is . . .

dependent on unloading Green to the Dbacks.

McCourt must be looking for loose change under the couch cushions right now.

[Mojambo]

15. Way too much money

DePodesta has had a terrible offseason.