With Scott Boras in town for the official introduction of Mark Teixeira, the Mets will take the chance to lunch with him this Wednesday afternoon and discuss Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez.
The Mets remain fixated on Lowe as their first choice, but a Mets official insisted that this lunch does not mean any step forward from the three-year, $36 million offer the team presented last week, pointing out that the geography has more to do with this meeting than any anticipated progress.
“He’s in New York,” one team official said of Boras, “So we’ll continue dialogue.”
Lowe already turned down the Mets first offer, but Boras said in the Bronx Tuesday that Lowe has not ruled out anything.
“I think Derek just wants to go through this process and get his fair market value,” Boras said. “Obviously, I think there’s been some pitchers signed that give him a very clear indication of where he sits in the market place, and those are things I’ve discussed with other teams.”
The pitchers signed already held press conferences at Yankee Stadium with CC Sabathia drawing a seven-year, $161 million deal from the Yankees and A.J. Burnett got $82.5 million from the Yankees over five years. But the Mets are hesitant to add a fourth year or pay the $16 million per year for Lowe, who turns 36 years old in the coming season.
The Mets remain focused on Lowe with Perez the second choice if they can’t come to terms with Lowe. A Mets official said that they expect to talk to Fern Cuza, the agent for Pedro Martinez, later this month, but that will only come after the chase for Lowe is decided.
Comments