It's been a strange offseason for baseball free agents. Other than the jaw-dropping spending spree from the Yankees, no one is getting the big deals we're accustomed to seeing. In fact, few free agents are signing at all, which has worked out well for the Mets.
No one showed up to top their three-year, $37 million offer to Francisco Rodriguez, which meant the Mets got the market's top closer for half as much as he was hoping to receive. If they pulled the same thing off with a starting pitcher to back up Johan Santana, it might be time to recommend Omar Minaya as some sort of financial czar to help pull our nation's economy out of the muck.
He's certainly trying. According to Jack Curry of the New York Times, Minaya has made a three year, $36 million offer to Derek Lowe. Lowe, and agent Scott Boras, had been talking about a five-year, $90 million pact earlier this offseason, but nothing's materialized even after CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett were taken off the market. Boras still says that other teams have shown interest in Lowe, though nothing's leaked.
Normally, that would play like hyperbole, but after the Mark Teixeira affair, it's probably best to assume we don't know everything. That said, it is certainly looking like a brave new world for baseball. Boras hasn't been able to generate much interest in Manny Ramirez, either, which tells you that everyone, save the Yankees, are counting every penny. If Lowe signs for anything in the neighborhood of the Met offer, it will officially mean that baseball, like the country, has entered a recession.
That probably doesn't bother Minaya one bit. He could sign K-Rod and Lowe for less total money than the Yankees gave Burnett and make the Mets a much better team in the process.
