01/06/09 12:47 PM EST
Brewers 'not in' on Lowe sweepstakes
GM Melvin sets to rest rumors that club is chasing 35-year-old righty
By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com

MILWAUKEE -- The Derek Lowe-to-the-Brewers rumblings can be put to rest.

"We're not in on him," general manager Doug Melvin said of the free-agent right-hander.

That did not exactly qualify as a new development, since team officials have said publicly all along that they did not believe Lowe was particularly interested in coming to Milwaukee.

But it's likely that the real hurdle is Lowe's asking price -- $15-$16 million per season -- and the fact that he turns 36 in June and would be 39 by the end of a three-year contract or 40 after four years.

Yet a handful of published reports speculated that Milwaukee could be a destination for Lowe. The Mets reportedly have made a three-year offer to Lowe in the neighborhood of $12 million per season, though agent Scott Boras disputed that such an offer was ever made, according to a post on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Web site Sunday. The Braves are seen as another contender, and the Phillies have also been mentioned.

Brewers 'not in' on Lowe sweepstakes | MLB.com: News