Originally published Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print view
Braves get Derek Lowe for $60 million
The Braves bounced right back from the disappointment of losing John Smoltz. Determined to rebuild a once-proud pitching staff that fell...
ATLANTA — The Braves bounced right back from the disappointment of losing John Smoltz.
Determined to rebuild a once-proud pitching staff that fell into disarray, Atlanta reached a preliminary agreement Tuesday on a $60 million, four-year contract with Derek Lowe and finalized a three-year deal with Japanese all-star pitcher Kenshin Kawakami.
Just like that, the Braves' rotation — once the most dominant in baseball — suddenly looks a whole lot stronger with spring training just a month away.
"You've got to have pitching," manager Bobby Cox said. "You could have the best hitting team in the history of baseball and you still may not get it done. We will feel confident now that whoever toes the mound on any particular night, we've got a good chance of winning."
Lowe, 35, becomes the new ace of the staff.
Drafted by the Mariners in 1991, Lowe pitched for Seattle in 1997 but was traded with catcher Jason Varitek to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Heathcliff Slocumb.
Lowe spent the last four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He went 54-48, never had an ERA higher than 3.88 and averaged more than 200 innings a season.
Kawakami, a 33-year-old right-hander, becomes the first Japanese-born player in the franchise's history. He held up a picture he drew with the symbol for "soul" in his native language.
"My pitching style is all about putting my soul into my pitches," Kawakami said through a translator.
Pitcher Smoltz: "Age is just a number"
After playing all 20 of his major-league seasons with the Braves, the only pitcher in baseball history with 200 wins and 150 saves is starting over at age 41 with the Red Sox.
"I'm as determined and I'm as focused as I've ever been," Smoltz said Tuesday. "The uniform has changed. The desire won't change."
![]()
The right-hander, who says he's "doing great" after major shoulder surgery, finalized his $5.5 million, one-year agreement, confident he can still contribute and eager to pitch beyond 2009. "Age," he said, "is just a number."
Notes
• Career saves leader Trevor Hoffman (554 saves) and the Brewers announced their $6 million, one-year deal Tuesday after the reliever passed a physical.
• Free-agent reliever Guillermo Mota is returning to the Dodgers.
• Right-hander Koji Uehara finalized a $10 million, two-year contract with the Orioles. Uehara won Japan's equivalent of the Cy Young Award in 1999 and 2002.
• The first manager in San Diego Padres' history has died. Preston Gomez was 85. He died Tuesday in Fullerton, Calif. Gomez took over the expansion Padres in 1969 and later managed the Astros and Cubs. Gomez was hit by a pickup truck last March and never fully recovered from head injuries.
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
Talks to restart between Mariners, Ken Griffey Jr.
Larry Stone: Big decisions await Jack Zduriencik as he heads for GM meetings
Baseball | Ex-Mariners reliever J.J. Putz files for free agency
MLB | Ex-Huskies pitcher Tim Lincecum makes deal with prosecutors
World Series | Yankees enjoy victory parade through Manhattan

Ken Auletta talks about "Googled"
Ken Auletta talks about Google with Brier Dudley at the Seattle Central Library.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Police: DNA from officer's slaying matches suspect
- Prosecutors consider charges against suspect in police shooting
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- Steve Kelley | Hasselbeck gives Seahawks' sagging season a stay of execution
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- Bill Clinton meets with Senate Dems on health care
- Trucker dies as big-rig plummets off SF bridge
- McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
- Washington coordinator Nick Holt says his Huskies defense is improving
- Prosecutors prepare charges against suspect in police shooting
256 - House health bill unacceptable to many in Senate
246 - Pelosi tours Seattle's Swedish after health-care vote
171 - Prosecutors prepare charges against suspect in police shooting
143 - Alleged shooter tied to mosque of 9/11 hijackers
135 - Obama puts heat on Senate to speed health bill
123 - Resolute Fort Hood soldiers ready for return
119 - McGinn more than doubles his lead over Mallahan
99 - Cutaia says replay handled properly on Austin TD
69 - Josh Smith picks UCLA
69
- For 80-year-old Maple Valley man, hoops aren't just a dream
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Pakistani-American cafe, bar owner on verge of being Granite Falls mayor
- Silver Lake restaurant destroyed by fire
- All You Can Eat | Fruit flies: thrill to the kill
- Taste | Ruth Reichl still reigns as queen of America's culinary scene
- Police: DNA from officer's slaying matches suspect
- Book review | Ayn Rand: goddess of the market, gateway to the American right





