Derek Lowe acquired by Cleveland Indians in a bid to bolster bull-pen – MLB Update
In a desperate attempt to resurface in Major League Baseball, the Cleveland Indians announced the acquisition of Atlanta Braves’ starter Derek Lowe on Monday, October 31.
The Indians failed to prove their point in the regular season and are thus going the extra mile in a bid to bring their act together before the next season kicks off in 2012. Cleveland’s management, in compensation for Lowe, has traded minor league left-hander
Chris Jones and feels that experience will be more beneficial to the ballclub than talent alone.
Lowe’s career statistics have been decent, nonetheless. He has 166 career wins to his credit at a 3.94 ERA with just 146 losses to complete the equation. If Lowe succeeds in replicating these statistics for the Indians, the management will feel satisfied
with the decision.
The right-handed Lowe was not impressive during the regular season, but has loads of experience to back his selection. During 2011, Lowe lost 17 starts at a 5.05 ERA with just nine wins to compliment his win-loss record. He signed a 60-million-dollar four-year
deal with the Braves before the 2009 season, but it seems that the bond between both parties cannot last further.
Of the 15-million-dollars that Lowe was to earn next year, the Braves will soak up ten-million-dollars and will give only five-million-dollars to the player. Nevertheless, the Indians had no other choice but to lure Lowe into their bull-pen, primarily because
of shrinkage in the pitching depth.
Carlos Carrasco has been ruled out for 2012 due to an elbow injury and will thus be undergoing Tommy John surgery in the near future. No date has yet been announced for the surgery, but the management has clarified that the starter will not be a part of
the rotation when the team takes field in the next season.
The 38-year-old veteran will join the likes of Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Tomlin, Justin Masterson and Fausto Carmona to complete the five pronged rotation.
If Lowe’s history is to be seen, his best season came in 2001, when his bagged 21 wins for the Boston Red Sox at a 2.58 ERA and lost just eight games during the entire season. The Indians will want him to produce something similar from the mound, but with
a decade gone, it seems improbable.
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