Braves buy high on Lowe

I am sorry the Mets didn't get Derek Lowe, and sorry that the Braves did. But four years and $60 million is a lot to pay for a pitcher who is good, not great, and will be 39 at the end of his contract. The Mets have spent the last two years paying Pedro Martinez $13M a year and getting nothing in return. Next year, Billy Wagner gets $10M to rehab his arm.

But when Wagner and Pedro signed their contracts there was the potential for them to perform at star levels as long as they were healthy. Lowe has been solid, but isn't likely to be having any breakout seasons at his age.

And while any team would be pleased to have similar results to what Lowe produced the last four years in L.A., bear in mind that Dodger Stadium is a pitchers' park and Lowe's numbers were a lot better there than they were on the road:

2008 Home: 2.30; Road 4.42
2007 Home: 3.51; Road 4.19
2006 Home: 3.18; Road: 4.13
2005 Home: 3.74; Road: 3.48

Let's hope nobody else makes a play for Oliver Perez, so the Mets can get him back at a fairly reasonable price.

Whatever you may think of Ollie, if the Mets don't get him, they are going to go into 2009 with a suspect rotation. If Omar Minaya is really planning to turn to the likes of Randy Wolf, he'd better bring along Cardinals' pitching coach Dave Duncan, who has worked miracles with reclamation projects like Jeff Weaver.

Wolf has been with four teams in four seasons, and with good reason. Along with his varied injuries, he has had an ERA under 4.23 once in the last six years.

Last year, Wolf pitched for San Diego. Check out his stats in pitcher friendly Petco vs. on the road:

2008 Home: 2.98; Road: 5.76

If the Mets end up going with the likes of Wolf, they'd better use the money they'd be saving on pitching on a corner outfielder that can hit.

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Squawker Lisa, thanks for pointing out that Mo Vaughn got six votes for the Hall of Fame. Other ex-Mets who got votes included the actual Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson (though somehow I doubt he'll go in wearing a Met cap) and Jesse Orosco, who got one vote.

Along with Vaughn, David Cone got 21 votes while Jay Bell got 2 votes. All three appeared on the 2003 Mets, along with three players who actually can expect to be in the Hall someday: Mike Piazza, Tom Glavine and Roberto Alomar. But Fame was quite fleeting for this Met team - they finished 66-95.

If the Mets give out another good-sized contract, would you rather see it go to Oliver Perez or to an outfielder like Adam Dunn or Bobby Abreu? Tell us what you think.