The final resting place of Derek Lowe in the sweepstakes for the sinkerballer looks like a near clean sweep for the NL East, with Lowe being courted publicly by the Mets to our north and the Braves to our south. The Phillies continue to be name checked as a suitor every time Lowe’s situation is discussed, although Ken Rosenthal said that the Phils are not seriously interested. Could the Phillies swoop in with a trick play and steal Lowe from both of our rivals? Do we even want them to?

The Braves interest at this moment seems to be very high, as the franchise just lost one of their most beloved pitchers in John Smoltz to the Boston Red Sox. Braves fans, who aren’t all that passionate in the first place, are not going to be thrilled with Smoltz’s departure. Adding Lowe could help satiate the fan base, as well as calm down the very talkative and annoyed Chipper Jones.

The Mets are reported to have signed Tim Redding to presumably be their No. 5 starter. Adding Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz is nice, but the Mets are still looking for pitching, and Lowe seems to be high on their radar. Oliver Perez is still out there as a possibility for the Mets, but he is unreliable, and I certainly would prefer Lowe to Perez if I rooted for the Mets.

The Phillies have uncertainty in their last rotation spot, with J.A. Happ, Carlos Carrasco, Kyle Kendrick and Chan Ho Park among those who could compete for it. Could the Phils add Lowe and move everyone down a spot, making Jamie Moyer their No. 5? A rotation of Hamels, Lowe, Myers, Blanton and Moyer would stack up quite nicely against the Mets’ Santana, Perez/Wolf/Martinez, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine and Tim Redding. With Myers a year away from free agency, the Phillies could fill the void left by Myers should he leave with Carrasco or Happ. In 2011, Moyer will be a free agent, as will Joe Blanton. The Phillies could have several rotation spots to fill.

I said in an earlier post that I preferred Moyer to Lowe, but could we have both? Having too many starting pitchers is one of the best baseball problems to have, especially given the potential loss of several starters from the fold in the next 1-2 years.

At issue is Lowe’s contract demands, which would most likely require the Phils to throw 4 years and roughly 14 million per at him to make it happen. That is a lot of money for a franchise that has several high impact players current making peanuts who will command big money in arbitration settlements, or long term deals.

I like Lowe, and would hate to see him sign with the Mets or Braves, but passing on him is the Phillies’ best bet vs. being the NL East team that bids the highest for him. There are too many other areas to focus on, and with Carrasco, Happ and Drabek in the pipeline, the cavalry is one its way once the current crop of Phils’ starters begin to move on.