Yes, it's great for the Atlanta Braves that Derek Lowe is their rotation's new ace. He's better than what they have now — with the exception possibly being Jair Jurrjens, who might be really, really good one day but is still just 22 years old — and there aren't too many other options out there. Randy Wolf isn't that great, neither is Oliver Perez, and Ben Sheets is exactly what the Braves don't need, another starter who will spend more time on the DL then he will off of it.
With all that being said, the Braves paid too much for Derek Lowe. Four years and $60 million for a 35-year old? Sure, Lowe's past is pretty much injury-free, but, he's 35. Simple math tells me in four years he'll be 39, and that's old by baseball standards. But, this was still an excellent move for the Braves. Frank Wren didn't want to give up the entire farm system for Jake Peavy — though at times I still wish he would have — and he couldn't quite reel A.J. Burnett in. But, that's OK, considering the fact that Burnett is one of those guys, like Sheets, who spends more time out of baseball than he does on the mound.
So, the Braves, still searching for that ace to solidify the rotation, went with Lowe, a guy who's made at least 32 starts since he became a full-time starting pitcher seven years ago. In those seven years, Lowe had one year where his ERA inflated a bit — 5.42 in 2004 with the BoSox, but that's just fine. Since he came to the NL, he's been as solid as ever, and honestly, what more could the Braves ask for? They were killed last year as Smoltz, Hudson, Glavine and of course, Mike Hampton, spent considerable amounts of time on the DL. So, Wren decided to take the safe route and grab the guy who doesn't overwhelm but doesn't get hurt. Right now, the Braves need consistency, and that's exactly what Derek Lowe brings to the table.
Atlanta has money to spend, and if you've been following along this offseason, you will notice that in order to sign free agents, you have to overpay. The Yankees overpaid for C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, but now they have two dominant starters — until Burnett gets hurt — to go along with some other pretty good ones for one of baseball's best rotations. Atlanta's rotation isn't quite as flashy, but it will be competitive. Lowe, Jurrjens, Javier Vazquez, a hopefully-solid Kenshin Kawakami and then (pick one) Charlie Morton, Jo-Jo Reyes or Tom Glavine. Without a pressing need for Tommy Hanson, I say keep him in the minors for a little extra seasoning.
So, the Braves paid more than they needed for Derek Lowe, but now that it's all said and done, the rotation has been reconvened a bit and they will once again be competitive in the NL East.
