THERE remains one final major move for the Yankees to make. Same goes for the Mets.
The Yankees still have a hole in their rotation. This has been an incredibly prosperous offseason for the Yankees and GM Brian Cashman with the free-agent additions of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira. Making one final move toward youth on the free-agent market will set them up for years to come.
The Yankees are waiting on Andy Pettitte, but there is another lefty available at basically Pettitte dollars and that’s Oliver Perez. Signing Perez would cement the Yankees’ rotation for years to come and would give them flexibility with Joba Chamberlain.
“Putting Perez on the Yankees would be a great move,” says one top pitching evaluator. “That would be the perfect environment for him. He would be more focused there. He needs strong leadership around him, and pitching in front of a packed house, he would not be complacent.”
Perez is 5-1 against the Yankees lifetime. He takes those games as a challenge and he attacks. Because he already has six full seasons under his belt and has had his share of ups and downs, people forget Perez is just 27. Opposing hitters batted only .234 last season against him. Walks, of course, have been his downfall. There is no excuse for his ridiculous 105 walks, the most in the majors. In eight of his 34 starts last season, Perez surrendered five or more walks.
That has to change. The previous season, he walked 79.
Perez is represented by Scott Boras, who also represents Mark Teixeira. Cashman has a good working relationship with Boras. The GM would have to take a leap of faith with Perez, but the upside could be tremendous. In Pettitte, the Yankees will get a pitcher they hope has one good season left in his cranky left shoulder.
Opponents batted .290 last season against Pettitte, 56 points higher than they did against Perez, who allowed 66 fewer hits. Perez also had a lower ERA (4.22 to 4.54) and more strikeouts (180 to 158). Perez is 10 years younger, too, which fits Cashman’s plan of making the Yankees younger.
By signing so many quality free agents this season, it gives the Yankees a window to develop their own talent, and that is still the basis of what Cashman is trying to do. The bottom line, however, is the David Prices of the world can only be drafted when you have the top pick, something the Yankees never have. Teixeira was the fifth pick of the 2001 draft; the Yankees selected 23rd that season. And Sabathia was the 20th pick of the 1998 draft; the Yankees selected 24th that year.
The other New York pitching move also involves a Boras client, Derek Lowe. The Mets have made a three-year, $36 million offer to Lowe but will have to up the ante to get that signing done.
Lowe is a difference-maker. Philadelphia would be the perfect spot for Lowe, a ground-ball pitcher in that Wiffle Ball park, but the World Champions probably will not spend that kind of money. Someone will, though. Lowe is too valuable a pitcher.
If the right-hander, who always makes 30-plus starts, were to go back to the Red Sox, that would be a blow to the Yankees.
“If he goes to Philadelphia,” explains an NL East scout, “the Phillies lock up the division again. A guy like Lowe is so valuable. It’s shocking to me that he hasn’t moved up higher in the market place. Ground balls always project.”
Lowe will turn 36 next season, but has shown no signs of slowing down. He is the kind of starter the Mets need to go along with Johan Santana. In 14 of his final 24 starts, Lowe went seven innings or more.
That saves a bullpen and a team. Six times Lowe’s teams have made it to the postseason, including four of the last eight years. Derek Lowe gets it done.