Sources close to both sides suggest that the retooling Seattle Mariners have come to terms with former Red Sox and Dodgers ace Derek Lowe. Lowe, coming off a 14 win season in the NL West, is notorious amongst fans of the Mariners for being involved in the Heathcliff Slocumb trade, generally regarded as one of the worst in the team's ignominious history.
Derek Lowe, pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Lowe had drawn interest from numerous other clubs, going so far as to sign a contract with the Atlanta Braves and appear in a press conference introducing him to the organization's fans. It came as a surprise to many, especially to Jack Zduriencik and his team in Mariners front office, that Lowe was still available.
"I thought [Lowe] was off the market, to be honest with you," Zduriencik said. "He'd signed that contract with Braves and everything. You can imagine our surprise when his agent contacted us. I guess that's just how they do things down in Atlanta these days."
The Mariners are hoping Derek Lowe helps to shore up a dicey staff which limped its way to a 4.73 ERA in pitcher-friendly Safeco Field, part of a teamwide Mariner collapse. The veteran will also make his presence known in the clubhouse; his years of experience in high pressure situations are expected to have a positive influence on the team's youngsters.
Lowe marks the second high-profile signing by the Mariners in the span of a few hours, joining the legendary Ken Griffey Junior as a new member of the squad. The two acquisitions help solidify what had hitherto been a quiet offseason for rookie general manager Zduriencik. Although the Mariners are not expected to compete in the strong American League West, Lowe and Griffey mark an important step on the path to national relevance once more.
When asked to comment on the situation, Atlanta GM Frank Wren said only, "I'm never ****ing working with that ***ing agent ever again. ****!" He has not returned calls since.
Agent Scott Boras has declined to issue a response. The terms of the deal remain undisclosed.
4 recs | 78 comments
PS: I'm sorry there are so many fake news stories out of me lately
Graham MacAree - February 18, 2009
But they're so fun to write
Kermit. - February 18, 2009
I like it.
marc w - February 18, 2009
You should consider submitting some of these to the Onion.
Fin - February 18, 2009
I'M SO CONFUSED
OlSalty - February 18, 2009
I hate you Jeff
JI - February 18, 2009
*you're
PositivePaul - February 18, 2009
It isn't that ignominious
vivaelpujols - February 18, 2009
I was in my national sportswriter mode
Graham MacAree - February 18, 2009
Graham, this is beautiful
Fuzz - February 18, 2009
Whatever. How can you blame Lowe for wanting to retire with the team he got his start with?
Griffey’s started a trend.
esoteric - February 18, 2009
Bring back Varitek, make the circle complete
pdb - February 19, 2009
Take that Georgia!
SethGrandpa - February 18, 2009
We take Lowe/Griffey and Fields
and we had Willie Mays on our side.
Slurvey - February 18, 2009
Well played, good sir.
JLC - February 18, 2009
I just noticed his jersey says Brooklyn.
Goose - February 18, 2009
Does this mean we somehow end up with Varitek as well?
msb - February 18, 2009
Obviously Varitek would be an excellent mentor to Clement.
I mean come on, two WS rings, and he was team captain of the BoSox? Why wouldn’t they sign him?
Coach Owens - February 18, 2009
lemonverbena - February 18, 2009
Fucking robots.
Teej - February 18, 2009
Amazing
Jeff Sullivan - February 18, 2009
Wow.
This is not the first time I have heard of the bots reporting fake news.
Fin - February 18, 2009
yes yes yes
JI - February 18, 2009
HAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHA
O GOD I AM DYING LAUGHING AND I NEED TO GO TO BED….
PositivePaul - February 18, 2009
Bahaaha!
royalcurve - February 19, 2009
This is fantastic.
BrianL - February 19, 2009
Awesome!
Goose - February 19, 2009
Wait I thought this was fake?
Robert - February 19, 2009
Nope.
I threw “M’s” and “Lowe” into Google News, and Graham’s piece was the top story.
Teej - February 19, 2009
Oh shit
So is Felix still the 1?
Robert - February 19, 2009
For some reason, I thought you were actually being serious for once.
Teej - February 19, 2009
Why would I ever do that?
Robert - February 19, 2009
No!
Bhahhahahah
Wilder. - February 19, 2009
No way
That’s hilarious
Graham MacAree - February 19, 2009
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
OlSalty - February 19, 2009
I liked the "strong American League West."
That was nice attention to detail.
Two Rs and Two Ls - February 18, 2009
Nice work.
Shrug - February 19, 2009
BURN
Well played! I lol’d at the G-bot picking up on the fake story so fast.
Also, I would like to tip my hat at the few LL’ers who showed up on our side of the fence to share their opinions and reasons to not want Griffey, Jr. as our left-fielder. I think a lot of people were clouded in nostalgia and too sold on the name-sake alone to also realize that he was far better suited to be the M’s DH than the Braves part-time LF.
I can’t speak for all my fellow Braves fans, but I for one, am very pleased with the outcome of this situation. It opens the door a little wider for some of our OF prospects, and Griffey Jr, gets to come home to a place that truly loves him. I was at Safeco like two seasons ago, and over the PA system, they were plugging the return of Griffey Jr. of the Reds, coming home, for Interleague. The mere mention of his name warranted some crowd response. That’s love.
So I return the sentiment and respect that some of you have so kindly shared with Braves fans. Good luck on your 2009 season, Mariners fans.
royhobbs - February 19, 2009
Why thank you.
Kirsten Schlewitz - February 19, 2009
Thanks very much.
royalcurve - February 19, 2009
Vizquel can't be far behind.
Big Jared - February 19, 2009
9 hours later and still up
Tony S - February 19, 2009
They caught my typo :(
Graham MacAree - February 19, 2009
This is amazing
mariners124m - February 19, 2009
Wow, Derek Lowe got really black.
Vatinius - February 19, 2009
Every Mariner is Griffey now, didn't you know that?
pdb - February 19, 2009
.
For a while actually.
Vatinius - February 19, 2009
Wouldn't a real reporter have noted that Derek Lowe bears no relation to current Mariners pitcher Mark Lowe?
Just saying.
seattlebruin - February 19, 2009
They also wouldn't blatantly lie in an article
Graham MacAree - February 19, 2009
Jim Street lies all the time
Corco - February 19, 2009
You should have said they were brothers
or father and son
Now I am unreccing this.
JI - February 19, 2009
Lowe is the father of current Mariners pitcher Mark Lowe
He fathered his youngest son at the age of ten, and at the age of 31 became the youngest person in Major League history to see his child play in a Major League game.
seattlebruin - February 19, 2009
They do things differently in the south.
JI - February 19, 2009
I love news algorithms
NY Times
Graham MacAree - February 19, 2009
No!
Even better!
Wilder. - February 19, 2009
This joke has finally reached full bloom.
esoteric - February 19, 2009
This just in!
I got a friggin’ e-mail from someone who was asking if we’d really signed Lowe. Evidently he read it in the NY Times.
PositivePaul - February 19, 2009
In the paper?
No way. If so, someone needs to get a copy and scan it.
Eyebrows - February 19, 2009
No no no.
It’d be from the Times’ news-bots or whatever. No way it made it into print.
Teej - February 19, 2009
Meh. Whatever.
I can make up a story just as easily as others can :-P
PositivePaul - February 19, 2009
Graham is secretly Jayson Blair.
Teej - February 19, 2009
Well somebody made a comment in one of prospect insider articles to jason...
And he said Lookout Landing said it it has to be true.
Comment number 30.
Slurvey - February 19, 2009
Finally someone that people will listen to says it.
Faux - February 19, 2009
Christ, for a second I thought this was real!
Almost had a heart attack.
Fearless Frog - February 19, 2009
Last time I trust this site...
I don’t see the point of this site if you’re reporting fake news. I’ve been telling my friends about Lookout Landing for some time now. I ended up telling my friends you guys had the scoop on Lowe to Seattle – now they’re like, “you idiot – what are you getting your news from there for? No thanks!”
I’m taking this place off my bookmarks.
Fool me once…
AgentO - February 20, 2009
Bahahahahaha
Graham MacAree - February 20, 2009
Aww I want to be mean but I'm not Graham.
And I don’t think Graham was mean either. What to do?
Eyebrows - February 20, 2009
Thanks for joining!
Jeff Sullivan - February 20, 2009
clementtowaivers.blogspot.com is open I think
Graham MacAree - February 20, 2009
It's like you know the future....
kentroyals5 - February 20, 2009
Okaiy, serious question
I was not around back in 2004, http://leonetowaivers.blogspot.com/ was a joke, right? Put on by someone from L43/LL, right? Or was that seriously just a really stupid person.
appleshampoo - February 20, 2009
Lol
Wow you’re gullible
OlSalty - February 20, 2009
Dear Mr. Lopez,
I sympathize with your embarrassment. You see, I too was fooled by this so-called news post. Well, not me particularly, but rather a few index crawlers for search engines. You see, they are programmed to just travel through links on websites and retrieve the data, sort of like ants signaling food to the rest of the hill. Anyway, I just want to express my apologizes that you share a cognitive level with small insects and computer algorithms.
I pray that you never stumble across a copy of The Onion.
Matthew - February 20, 2009
I agree
This pissed me off as much as that fake Corie Koskie article a few years ago. I thought this place was than immature little brat who wrote that but I guess I was wrong.
JI - February 20, 2009
Lookout Landing - If You Think Fake News Is Bad And/Or Overrated, I Sympathize With You But Still Find You Stupid
lemonverbena - February 20, 2009
It's not news, it's LookoutLanding.com!
Goose - February 20, 2009
HAHAHAHAH
EnglishMariner - March 3, 2009
We need to get this on LegitimateMLBTradeRumors.com
HARRYP09 - February 20, 2009
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