MONDAY: The Yankees have officially announced the signing in a press release and say they will use Lowe out of the bullpen. Their 40-man roster is now full.
SATURDAY: The Yankees have agreed to sign Derek Lowe, reports Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger (on Twitter). New York placed CC Sabathia on the DL with elbow stiffness today, so the move figures to replenish some pitching depth. Joel Sherman of The New York Post says (on Twitter) that the veteran right-hander has agreed to pitch out of the bullpen.
Lowe, 39, was released by the Indians earlier this week. He pitched to a 5.52 ERA in 21 starts for Cleveland this season, including an 8.80 ERA in his last dozen starts. He walked (45) more batters than he struck out (41) in 119 innings, though he was still generating plenty of ground balls (60.0%) with that sinker.
The Indians acquired Lowe from the Braves this past offseason and only had to pay $5MM of his $15MM salary. They're still on the hook for that money less the pro-rated portion of the league minimum, which the Yankees will pay.
Ouch.
Why he’s awful
Jesus, WHY!? Just use phelps.
Phelps is starting. Obviously Lowe will be in long relief.
exactly. My guess is, with Garcia already in the rotation, and now Phelps, Lowe is going to be the long man seeing time mostly when the team is up by 5 or 6 runs or down by 7 or 8 runs late in the game. Rather see him used in those innings vs Phelps or any prospect in the minors like Adam Warren because those guys need regular innings.
I’d normally say that I’m happy that the Yankees are picking up a lousy player, but the Red Sox are so terrible that it doesn’t matter anyway.
It really grinds my gears when fans bash a move without knowing the parameters of the deal first. Lowe is going to the Yankees to take Phelps’ spot in the bullpen. Phelps has earned his spot in the rotation and will be making the starts. Lowe is a bullpen replacement for Phelps from all reports/indications. For all the trolls bashing this move, the Yankees just added a very playoff experienced arm to their bullpen. No harm, no foul. Get well soon CC!
right
there are no parameters, they signed a guy with an ERA of 8 in his last 12 starts, that’s all there is to it. Maybe they think they can fix him easily but odds are when he gets in the game things will get ugly.
unless all guys with 8 ERAs in their last 12 starts are created equal, parameters matter. this is a league minimum signing for a guy with a very good career behind him who was effective as recently as 3 months ago
no risk, moderate potential reward. they’re looking for a bandaid and there’s a reasonable chance he can be one
Agreed. Well put.
No risk?
I’d say terrible performances are a risk. A good one at that.
Lowe is the 5th or 6th guy in the bullpen. He’s not going to start and he’s not going to be put into any tight situations. He’s disposable. You can run him into the ground if you’re down by 7 runs and 5 innings to go or you can run him into the ground if you’re up by 8 and don’t want to use more valuable arms during garbage time. As long as you manage this risk then who cares? He’s cheap and the quintessential sacrificial lamb that every team needs as they try and rest guys for a post season run.
Sure – It he’s the human white flag, there’s no risk at all.
No risk he cant stop them from making the playoffs. AT worst he’ll frustrate fans a little.
@DerekJeterDan
Quit being such a buzz kill! All the Yankees haters have had to bite their tongues for the most part and have had only miniscule opportunities to bash NY. Now they have their one opening and you go throw rational Thought and Reason into the mix and ruin it for them. Tsk…Tsk…Tsk…!
dude chill out people are bashing the deal because its derek lowe not because its the yankees, there would be just as much bashing if he signed for any other team
I can’t see him being THAT bad out of the pen. He’s good for at least 3 solid innings
Now that’s what I call buying Lowe.
Lowe blow, sir!
How Lowe can you go?
Derek Lowe
I’m a Red Sox fan and I approve of this message.
I am a Red Sox fan and disapprove of the cast of castoffs Boston has accumulated of late, not too mention the injuries.
Maybe Middlebrooks broken wrist will finally be the one that gets the FO to move discards like Salty and Aviles so they can let the Rookies play.
If ANY other team besides the Yankees did this, all the Yankee apologists would be laughing their tails off, blubbering about how this reeks of desperation, that Lowe has been one of the worst pitchers in baseball for the last three months, yadda ya.
Since it was, in fact, the Yankees who made this move, their fans pull out all their justifications as to why this makes perfect sense. Face facts, folks: this was a desperation move by a team who just put their ace on the DL (again) and who are just a little bit worried that their division lead over Baltimore and Tampa Bay isn’t so secure.
You are absolutely right. Lowe was signed to replace the recently placed on DL ace of their staff. Kudos to you for seeing thru the charade that Cashman was trying to fool us with (face palm smash).
There are ZERO teams, other than those who simply need a warm body to eat innings, that would look to Lowe as a savior.
Also, no one should see this as a bad move when all it’s costing you is a fraction of league minimum.
It was a desperation move. Any team signing Lowe would have been a desperation move, because he’s done. I can’t believe that you’re happy he’ll be a Yankee. Just don’t rationalize and make it out to be something its not.
My bigger point was that if my team (the O’s) had done it, all you Yankee fans would have swamped the boards saying how stupid the O’s were and how desperate they must be to sign a washed up pitcher, how this is going to make it so much easier for the Yankees to hold them off, etc. I’ve been putting up with Yankee Attitude for years, so don’t lie and tell me that it wouldn’t happen.
@mstrchef
You’re letting Yankees hatred cloud your ability to see a simple and logical move here. Yanks are 6 gms up and have enough starting pitching, even with their Ace on the DL, that,they need not panic.
If the Angels,Rays, Tigers or A’s made the same move, you’d accept the move at face value and not question it because the pitching staffs are comparable.
I won’t recite the reasons as to why because it’s been already given to you and you can’t see it. What I will say is to your point about what if it was the O’s that made the same deal, It could indeed be seen as a desperate move. Your team, aside from the back end of the BP, doesn’t have the pitching of the aforementioned teams and has fallen to 3rd place. So yeah, if the Orioles had made that move, It could be said that it was done out of desperation
It’s still a desperation move because it’s Derek Lowe. If they had called up someone from the minors, fine. If they made a trade for someone, fine. But don’t sign a guy who in his last 12 starts is 3-9 with an 8.81 ERA and an opponents OPS of .913 and say he’s a good pickup. It’s not a good pickup for the Yankees, nor would it have been a good pickup for the O’s or Angels or Rays or Tigers or A’s or any other team in baseball. Saying anything otherwise is either ignoring how bad Lowe has been for the last 2 1/2 months or being a major homer. It is what it is. To say that it would be a desperation move for the O’s but not for the Yankees is just plain arrogant, IMHO.
They didn’t bring anyone from the miniors because from what I read their top prospects are injured so that’s not an option.
Seriously dude. You’re getting carried away with this. No one should call this a desperation move regardless of what team it’s for. I will say that the way a team might intend on using a Derek Lowe goes in hand with how that acquisition is used. Expecting him to be a quality starter capable of 6 IP and 3 ER or less would be too optimistic and unreasonable of a thought. Using him as the 5th man out the pen when the outcome of the game is to a large extent already determined is quite different.
A team acquiring him as a starter means one thing. The Yanks have their 5 starters in Hughes, Nova, Kuroda, Garcia and now Phelps. In the pen they have Joba, Robertson and Epelly from the right and Logan and Rapada from the left. Lowe will be the 6th man out of the pen and may make a spot start here and there if needed. Once Sabathia comes back then someone is sent back to the pen. Once Pettite returns then the same will happen. Lowe will most likely be the first to go.
In order to bring up a player already in the organization they have to already be on the 40 man roster. That would limit the candidates to Betances, Adam Warren or journeyman Justin long. Absolutely no reason to bring up a guy like Warren or Betances because neither will get any consistent playing time and I would prefer they stay in the minors and get their work in there. If I had to choose between Long, who I haven’t seen much but has been awful, or paying Lowe a portion of $400k then the choice is easy.
As for “if they made a trade for someone, fine.” ,what pitcher that has cleared waivers already and doesn’t have a bloated contract attached could they acquire that would be an impact? None really.
So just because some idiot that roots for the Yankees or whoever may have thought a team was “desperate” to even consider signing Lowe may have said something silly, doesn’t mean you have to repeat it. Lowe can he pitching for us now, do a decent job and then be dropped as soon as Sabathia comes off the DL and no one would think twice about it.
@mstrchef
I’ll temper my comments and just bring out the facts that you opened the thread by making the pronouncement, scoffing at the Yankees move with Lowe. Then taunting the said fan base with your opinions, which is your right, because that’s what the site is for, sharing opinions. Then, once again refusing to be swayed when various posters gave contrary opinions to yours.
It’s amusing to see your reaction as well as your fallback when your argument is thrown back at you. Your call of desperation by the Yanks is your opinion, along with your ‘facts’ and that’s OK. Somehow, I don’t understand how it is when I state my opinion, which is just the reverse of yours, I become” just plain arrogant” and all of a sudden your pronouncement becomes the “IMHO” banner.
No team has a monopoly on stupid fans. Almost any signing of a veteran player by a playoff contender for prorated league minimum should be viewed as a bad signing, regardless if it’s the Yanks, Red Sox or your Orioles. As long as the expectations and the risks are low then it’s a safe move. No one sees this as a replacement of Sabathia. That would moronic. However, with Garcia in the rotation in replace of Pettite and now Phelps moving into the rotation to take up a spot created by Sabathia’s DL stint then that left the 5th bupllen guy/long relief spot vacant. That is what Lowe is filling.
@mstrchef
The sky is falling… The sky is falling… What to do?, oh what to do?
Derek Lowe to the rescue!
I want his entrance music as “Lido Shuffle” or ‘dirty Low Down” at Yankee stadium 🙂
Yes. Who cares about an ace going on the DL? Why bother getting another human being for couch change? He can be replaced by that pitching machine we have in the batting cages.
And the Yankees have enough money to buy two machines, in case the first one can’t get its curveball over for strikes.
They can afford a machine for each pitch and three machines for fastballs at 90, 95 and 100 to give the opposing batters a different feel.
Best of all, there wouldn’t really be platoon splits.
Red Sox faithful: “Let’s resign Lowe!!! It would be a great move!”
Red Sox faithful now: “He’s a TRAITAH! What a bum!”
“Let’s re-sign Lowe. It would be a great move”: I sincerely doubt anyone has ever said those words, much less with exclamation points around them.
You’d be wrong. You should have seen team forums, radio forums, and the radio itself. It was a topic of conversation a couple weeks ago, for some odd reason.
The Yankees signed a cheap, veteran arm. Lowe hasn’t been good for a few years-he will probably continue not being good. If he has anything left, he saves strain on the bullpen and maybe throws in a spot start if they need it. Eh. I wouldn’t call this groundbreaking one way or another.
This signing reminds me of the Yankees signing Scott Proctor (after the Braves released him late last year), lol. I expect this signing won’t work out any worse, just another washed up former Brave castoff.
They want Lowe to give up the walk-off homer to the Rays so the Sox can be denied once again.
Noticed you pretty much stay out of touch on the latest developments in the game, plus have this dislike of boston as well..
Middlebrooks was hit in the wrist by a Indians pitcher (Rogers) and is out for the year. Broken wrist. Same thing happened to Jim Rice late in his rookie season (75) when a young, potential Red Sox star in his rookie season was mashing his way and was hit in the wrist and it ended up being broken by the pitch.
This season is over for Boston, now even the hard core Boston fans can admit it. Negative flamers like yourself can revel and stand on a soap box, 4 months into the season with “I told you so”, even tho had no clue anything like this would happen 2 months ago with the rash of injuries and complete ineffectiveness of the pitching staff.
In short? It proves that there are worse things than the band wagon fans who only jumped onboard after Boston’s 1st WS title after ’04.
Sox denied once again? Since when were the Sox ever going somewhere this year?
What I want to ask Brian Cashman is: WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! He can offer nothing.
I heard Lowe has to pass his AARP physical before the deal is official lol.
Ah yeah another 40 yr for the Yankees.
It’s a low(e) risk investment that only have upside to it. If Lowe is bad, then that’s no surprise, and Yankees have lost basically nothing. If he can produce from the BP, it’s a bonus.
It’s basically the same thing as if another team were offered to take on Ryan Howard, and only a fraction of his contract per year. There is really no downside to such an arrangement. There is that slight chance that Howard would get back some of his lost power, but even if he wouldn’t, you hadn’t spent any major money on him.
So much for his return to Boston. With the way our season is going, it would have been nice to bring him back just for nostalgia. Oh well I guess.
he’s just there to eat innings in blow out games, I don’t see why much has to be said beyond that
I hope that he still has use in the bullpen…otherwise, it will be Scott Proctor all over again.
The yankees players are eligible for social security
Lowe was great tonight!
Don’t put him in Sabathia’s spot. Phelps is a good replacement. Use Lowe for a long reliever and get rid of either Joba or Phil Hughes. I’d get rid of Joba he hasn’t lived up to his expecatations obviously. And he hasn’t been healthy lately. Plus the Yankees could just go buy another starter/reliever they seem to do that quite a bit.
Looks like the deal has worked out pretty well so far, after Lowe’s 4 inning shutout save. And getting him for the major league minimum makes it a cheap investment. With the light workload he’ll have in NY, he could continue to be good.