$60 million for a 35-year old Lowe?

Lowe is an outstanding pitcher, but was he worth the $60 million dollars he received from Atlanta?

Baseball is a business. Because of this, players are paid millions upon millions of dollars, whether they deserve it or not. Players can make a obscene amount of money by performing exceptionally well, or just by being represented by an aggressive agent. Take agent Scott Boras for instance. His job is to get the most money he can for his clients. At times, this means persuading teams that a .240 hitter or a pitcher with a 5.00 ERA can be a star, and is worth paying for over many years. A tougher task may be to find a team to risk a lucrative contract on a aging player, no matter how much success he has previously encountered. But, if any agent is going get what he wants, it’s Boras, who landed 35-year old starting pitcher Derek Lowe a 4-year, $60 million dollar contract with the Atlanta Braves.

Lowe most recently played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he won 14 games and boasted a stellar 3.24 ERA in 2008. He has been very durable throughout his career, primarily because he relies heavily on off-speed pitches, especially a devastating sinkerball. The Braves, as well as the New York Mets, weren’t uncomfortable making multi-year offers to Lowe, despite his age. The Mets, the team that has been the most linked to Lowe this off-season, offered him a 3-year, $30 million dollar deal. Even though this is a tremendous amount of money, Lowe and Boras were insulted, treating the $30 million as pocket change to what he truly deserved. Once the off-season began, Lowe was demanding a 5-year, $90 million dollar contract, but once fellow pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett signed with the New York Yankees for a total of $243 million dollars, his stock dropped. Even still, Boras found a team willing to risk $15 million dollars a season, down from the $18 million he previously wanted, over four years.

Lowe is a very talented pitcher, even at his age, but no matter how consistent he has been, nor how few injuries he has had, he’s not worth this insane amount of money, nor the years that he received. But Atlanta entered the Lowe sweepstakes as a surprisingly desperate team. Their 2008 season was a disappointing one in which they won only 72 games. It was a rebuilding year for the franchise, which allowed manager Bobby Cox to get a good look at his young starting pitchers. Jair Jurrjens, 22, led the team in wins with 13, and had a very respectable 3.68 ERA. Jo-Jo Reyes, 24, struggled to the tune of 11 losses and a 5.81 ERA. Rookies Charlie Morton and James Parr did as well, but their rotation was still full of promise, especially since top-prospect Tommy Hanson was making headway in the minor leagues. It seemed as if Cox would have to mold these young pitchers just as he did with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz years ago. It would take time, though, but if the Braves front office was patient, Jurrjens, Reyes, Morton, Parr, and Hanson could help the team contend for a World Series title a few years down the road. The problem was, General Manager Frank Wren wasn’t patient, and didn’t want to donate more seasons to a rebuilding effort. He, to the delight of Boras, was willing to dole out top dollar for Lowe.

Once Atlanta’s talks with San Diego regarding ace Jake Peavy became dormant, Wren traded four prospects to the White Sox in exchange for 32-year old Javier Vazquez. Then, just prior to Lowe’s signing, Wren inked a 32-year old Japanese pitcher, Kenshin Kawakami, to a three-year, $23 million dollar deal. I don’t have a problem with the team adding veteran experience to their pitching staff, I just don’t understand why they do not wait an see if their young pitchers could make a similar impact. By doing this, it would have saved Atlanta five prospects and $83 million dollars. It’s one thing to add one veteran, like Lowe, to serve as a mentor, but it is uncharacteristic of the Braves to overload their staff with such pitchers, thereby delaying the progress of younger ones.

Atlanta’s offseason moves are similar to those of the Boston Red Sox. Boston signed veteran starting pitchers Brad Penny and John Smoltz to one-year contracts. Both are confident they will be healthy and make solid contributions, but their presence takes away from Justin Masterson and Michael Bowden’s maturity. Masterson and Bowden were supposed for the fifth spot in the rotation, but now with Smoltz and Penny in the fold, they will be banished to the bullpen. Though I think the Red Sox will contend this season with Smoltz and Penny penciled in at the back end of the rotation, I would have much rather seen Boston save their money and put faith in Masterson and Bowden. This is how Braves fans must feel, even though, with Lowe, their team will be a serious contender in the NL East.