Lowe still making an impact

Sunday, October 1, 2006
Lowe still making an impactposted


The shame is that anyone who loves the game wanted to see Pedro Martinez come back and pitch in the 2006 postseason. He demonstrated in the 1999 playoffs and in September 2005 that he could win without his mid-90s fastball. But after awhile, no matter how huge his heart, the shoulder, foot, ankle, calf and who-knows-what-else caught up, and now he faces rotator-cuff surgery knowing that since July 2005 he is 12-13 for a Mets team that is in the playoffs.
Go back to that free-agent starting pitcher class signed in the 2004-2005 offseason. Four -- Derek Lowe, Brad Radke, David Wells, Jaret Wright -- will likely start in this week's playoffs.

Looking back, was Lowe the jewel of this collection? He was coming off three seasons in which his ERA for Boston went from 2.58 to 4.47 to 5.42, but he also went out and won the clinching game in each postseason series. Most importantly, he was still standing. Look at the chart below -- he is the winningest pitcher of the group, has thrown the most innings and at $9M is not a stretch, any more than Kris Benson's contract was a reach.

Lowe came out of the bullpen to save the Red Sox in the ALDS in Oakland in 2003, he won the three clinchers in 2004, and here he is again, back as one of the key factors in the Dodgers' postseason hopes.

FREE-AGENT STARTER CLASS, 2004-2005
Pitcher Years/AAV W-L Innings ERA
Martinez, NYM 4/$13.25M 24-16 349.2 3.37
Pavano, NYY 4/$9.99M 4-6 100 4.77
Lowe, LAD 4/$9M 28-23 440 3.62
Ortiz, Ari 4/$8.25M 5-19 160 7.99
Milton, Cin 3/$8.5M 16-23 339 5.89
Clement, Bos 3/$8.5M 18-11 256.1 5.10
O. Perez, LAD 3/$8M 13-16 232 5.27
Benson, NYM 3/$7.5M 21-20 357.1 4.48
Lieber, Phi 3/$7M 26-24 386.1 4.52
Wright, NYY 3/$7M 16-12 199 4.93
Radke, Min 2/$9M 21-21 363 4.17
Wells, Bos 2/$4.1M 18-12 259.1 4.44