The Mets are convinced that Derek Lowe is an under priced commodity. Either that, or they are convinced they can resign a crazy Oliver Perez for as much or less. Oliver Perez may be a talented lefty that is eight years younger than Lowe, but his once a month blow-ups have been guaranteed Mets losses, and that's a tough pill to swallow. One positive sign is that Oliver Perez got married this off season. Maybe the emotional roller coaster has finally gotten off the crazy train tracks and relocated to a more level ride?

Frankly, the Mets need to keep their radar's peaked. Derek Lowe is the best free agent option the Mets have to fill a much needed innings eater number two guy behind Johan Santana. But Lowe may or may not be the answer the Mets are looking for. Other free agents on the market today include:

Ben Sheets
Livan Hernandez
Braden Looper
Mark Mulder
and others...

Mark Mulder may be an interesting prospect for the Mets. While he has been less than stellar the past couple of years to say the least, his stock is in worse shape then that of the Detroit Auto Makers. He may be a good value pick up that frees up enough cash to sign another starter, maybe Oliver Perez.

I'd love to see Sheets in the Mets pin stripes, but he should be making the same, if not more than Lowe. Sheets is a dominant starter who loves to strike out batters, and at 31, could have several quality seasons yet to pitch.

Overall its easy to see why the Mets are sitting on their hands when it comes to Derek Lowe. They have options and they can wait for the market to settle down before they need to make any decisions. Paying $15 mil for a guy like Lowe who is getting up there in age isn't necessary. This isn't 2007 or 2008 where there were only a handful of free agents available either. Its a buyers market, and the Mets are in the drivers seat.