Mets confident, not raising offer to Lowe | www.metscitiblog.com

More at www.metscitiblog.com-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Minutes ago, in an article on the Newsday website, the Mets have no plan to raise the offer to Derek Lowe. According to sources close to the Mets, they do not feel there is any serious competition for Lowe. Consequently, the offer remains on the table and unchanged. Several teams have been mentioned to be on the periphery. Most notably, the Braves, Phillies (Yikes!), Brewers, and Red Sox have all had some rumors regarding Lowe. As I noted in an earlier post, this is a dangerous ground to be on. Let's not anger the guy that you want to sign, simply to save a few bucks. I feel there is a fine line between not overpaying in this type of market, and low-balling an agent and his client. One thing is clear, the Mets are focused on Lowe and it really appears they intend to sign him. Oliver Perez does not seem to fit as a fallback because he shares the same agent, is younger, and could demand more years or more millions. The only way I see a return is if the market shrivels more and the Mets lose out on Lowe or if they get a good deal and sign Lowe and Perez. Both seem like long shots. The next level of free agents seem like such a giant drop in talent. Specifically, Randy Wolf and Jon Garland are simply not the caliber of Derek Lowe. In the fifth spot, I would love to see the Mets go for Wolf and then Tim Redding in that order. After Lowe and Perez sign, the market could really work against Wolf. Hello? Ben Sheets are you there? Regis Courtemanche makes a great point as guest blogger on Newsday that there haven't been any real connections to Ben Sheets? It seems like a lot of teams are put off by his medical records. What would it take to sign Sheets? Does a 2 year deal for $18-$20 million with a vesting option for a 3rd year at another $10 million sound fair? It does to me. If you put him in the fifth starter spot, he would get a few less starts as well. Also, barring a major problem, Santana, Lowe (hopefully), Pelfrey should all be at or above 200 innings for the year so you would not have to push Sheets long into games to save the pen. I have to tell you Sheets is attractive to me.

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