Braves Keeping It On the Down-Lowe

Not a good day for Met fans as Derek Lowe has agreed to a deal with the Braves. Lowe will get 60 mil for 4 years. Thats considerably more than the Mets offered. The signing of Lowe comes one day after they signed Kenshin Kawakami. The starting rotation which was the major area of concern for the Braves is now the best part of their team. While Lowe, Vazquez and Jurjains are not Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz they are a very good trio. And if Kawakami is as good as advertised they will have 4 strong starters. With Jorge Campillo rounding out the rotation. Derek Lowe has been an above average pitcher since becoming a starter in 2002. He has won 12+games every year. His ERA has been under 4 each year for the past 4 years. And one other factor that can't be overstated his he does not get hurt. He has never been on the DL. Last season his K/BB ratio was a very good 3/1. He he was 20/34 in Quality Starts. And his sinker was as good as ever as shown by his G/F ratio of nearly 4/1. Some may question giving a 4 year deal to a 36 year old but sinkerballers tend to age well. Also Lowe has been a terrific big game pitcher. All those Brave fans that wanted Frank Wren's head after the John Smoltz controversy should be very pleased today. Unfortunately the rest of the team still has quite a few major holes. With the exception of Chipper Jones and Brian McCann the rest of the offense is weak. They have little power at key power positions like corner outfield and first base. And the bullpen is in need of more good arms. As of now the best they have is Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano both pitchers who are very injury prone. But even if they do nothing for the rest of the off season they will definitely improve from last years finish.