Discussion: Mike Lowell

I know it's your "job" to ponder this stuff, but pointing out the Cardinals was stupid. They have no need for an aging third baseman with Freese and Craig pushing for the job, not to mention DeRosa could return. And if the Cardinals want to go into 2010 with a veteran, it would be Glaus or DeRosa.

Lowell isn't depth in 2010. That's disinformation. He is the starting 3rd baseman, whose hip will be fully healed come ST. Your stats show how good Mike is at the plate ... even playing injured. His quick reflexes were on display during the ALDS, playing on a still gimpy hip. Fully healed, will he again be among the top 3b next year?? Probably. Casey Kotchman really isn't in this equation. Mike's #'s were better than Casey's this year, and that gap will widen in 2010, his swan song and contract year. The ONLY way they move Mike is if San Diego decides to trade AGon for a handful of top prospects and Youk moves to 3b. Even then, Mike would be a solid righty bat and the best insurance at DH. Nope, Mike's a dirt dog, a gamer, a leader and a great 3b. He stays.

Geez, he was just throwing out an idea. I think it's a fine idea to entertain. Freese will not be ready next year, Glaus is undependable, Derosa will be unsure after his surgery. I'd rather go into the season with Lowell; it wouldn't hurt for the Cards to win a postseason game next year. Lowell plays a year, then Freese can come up. To Hell with Glaus.

Depth is important. As a Yanks fan, trade Lowell to the NL, that'll be just fine with me! But, I doubt it, with Ortiz's spotty play and a low .200 average, it would be good for the Sox to hold on to Lowell who can still handle the stick with a .290 average. I know Big Papi picked it up in the second half but if my name was Theo, I keep Lowell. Do the Red Sox really need salary relief? Not to mention a partial salary relief. I don't think so.

Your Mike Lowell stats show what a good year he had in 2009, playing on a gimpy hip. His quick defensive skills were also on display in the ALDS. Next year his hip will be fully healed, in a swan song, contract year. Mike, while hurt, hit much better than Casey Kotchman, and that gap will widen in 2010. So, the Sox will again have a good hitting, Gold Glove third baseman, a clubhouse and community leader. They would trade him why?? IMO, only if they trade a bunch of top prospects for 1b Adrian Gonzales, in which case Youk moves to 3b. Would he then want to stay as the righty DH and DH insurance???

Why will Mike Lowell be fully healed next year? He needed treatment throughout the year, and he always seemed close to a DL stint. He wasn't a full time player after Victor Martinez came to Boston, and it was because Francona knew he couldn't play day in and day out. The Red Sox will have a question mark at shortstop and DH (they can't possibly get rid of Ortiz and Lowell without eating serious money), they need to get a dependable option at third. It isn't fair to ask Youkilis to switch positions all the time. I'm sure it would only take about $3-6 million from the Red Sox to make Mike Lowell's deal acceptable (it would be 1 yr, $9-6m) for another club. Although I disagree with all these "experts" saying the Red Sox need more base stealers (even though they have more than they did in 04 & 07), they do lack athleticism. They have too many guys who can't move first to third on the bases without a gap hit, and that stalled the offense a lot this year.

"I know it's your "job" to ponder this stuff, but pointing out the Cardinals was stupid. They have no need for an aging third baseman with Freese and Craig pushing for the job, not to mention DeRosa could return. And if the Cardinals want to go into 2010 with a veteran, it would be Glaus or DeRosa."

I don't see what your deal is, you must be the most optimistic person in the world apparently. The Front office had EVERY opportunity to call up Craig this year, and chose not to. They are surely much smarter than any of us and know a lot more than us, therefore there must be an underlying reason why he hasn't been called up. What's wrong with giving Freese some tutelage exactly, especially if Boston gives us another free dude that can actually contribute (Offensively of course, Lugo is god awful defensively)
The Cardinals are the only playoff team in the NL with a glaring hole at 3b, so what's the problem in thinking about it? Also, you can't depend on either Derosa or Glaus really for injury reasons, and even though Lowell had some problems with his hip, he's still a contributing player.

Now, what would Boston want? We could probably hand over Pete Kozma, which the Red Sox would be sort of intrigued with, since he's a great SS prospect defensively. Maybe a combo of Tyler Greene or Kozma plus Bryan Anderson would be enough, but probably not.

^So my point was keeping Lowell is more valuable than trading him away, eating part of his salary, and not getting something significant in return.

I dont see the Red Sox moving Lowell, for the reason most on this site have already stated. Its not going to bring very much in return, or provide salary relief. So they might be better off keeping him around. Unless they would prefer the 25/40 man roster spot for something else. That would be the only valid reason they would try and move him. For instance, next season they are worried that he will get hurt or be unable to play 3B enough to justify the roster spot, but not be hurt enough to be placed on 60day DL they would be stuck without much ability to make a move, without simply DFA him. That would be the sole reason for trying him as of now. That could of course change, depending on the moves in the offseason the Red Sox make.

Mike Lowell exhibited great hands and a strong arm in the ALDS. What he also demonstrated is that he has ZERO range. Lowell has always been sure handed and that wasn't impacted by his hip. What has been impacted is his ability to move side to side or forward and back.

Maybe it isn't a big deal if Gonzalez is brought back. However, with a lesser fielding SS that whole side of the infield could be trouble in '10.

I can't see where Lowell would have value. On the open market there is no way he sniffs at anything close to $12m. To move him will cost the team $5-7m and even then I doubt you get any useful pieces back. Better to just ride out the contract and look for a full-time replacement next off-season.

Lowell for the Cardinals if the RS eat some money would be a goood idea, Lowell can keep 3B warm until one of those kids is ready to take over and do so while providing some performance.

But here is a question - Theo has talked about improving RS defence. Now Lowell was bad this year but was still recovering from injury and was good in previous years. Youkilis wasn't brilliant at 3B but can probably improve. Youkilis is better at 1B than V-mart who provides more benefit at Catcher.

Theo has already said V-mart is the main catcher next year which means that he wasn't be the main 1B. So if Youkilis is to become the third baseman, the Red Sox would need to bring in a full time 1B.

I can see the Sox sticking with the same team, Youk 1B, Lowell 3B, Gonzalez at SS and Lowrie as a supersub - who could play a lot at 3B if needed. That would perhaps be the best defensive infield the Sox could put out.

To the Giants perhaps? There would be some pretty serious obstacles with the who the Giants would send to Boston in return and how much money Boston would be willing to eat....but if the Giants were able to land Lowell and sign Nick Johnson those two injury prone corner infielders could kinda platoon/provide insurance for each other at one corner IF spot with Panda starting at the other spot.

I don't see the Sox trading Lowell, except under the circumstance where they bring in a guy like Adrian, which would force Youk to play most days at 3B.

AFAIC, regardless of his 2nd half production, Papi is the guy providing a great deal of dead weight on the team. Once you remove Papi from the equation, the Sox ability to take the 'injury prone' or 'salary heavy' and put them in the DH role on any given day is valuable. We lack that versatility.

For my money, Lowell is the all around more valuable candidate to keep.

I'd also keep Varitek for his player option at 3 mil, or perhaps he retires and becomes a Sox asst. coach, something that seems very obvious down the road.

Figgins? That's a very intriguing possible acquisition and seems more feasible than Adrian and certainly more than Prince, imo.

For those of you that watched a considerable amount of Sox games (and maybe you stat freaks that swear/go by only UZR crap as well) Lowell has about 1 step range to his left now and less than that to his right at 3B since his surgery. Some of the loss of left side range was covered up with Gonzalez and would be a glaring weakness if another turd defender was brought in that some are clamoring for, like Tejada.

Another problem is that the Sox have a real weakness at 3B in the minors and not just at the upper levels either, but the lower levels as well, so there is no replacement that can stick out and please nobody mention the 25 year old Jimenez at AA, who is not good on defense and hits singles only.. He is not another Wade Boggs type..

Boston is probably better off just letting Lowell play 3B and switch off as the RH DH when he can, afterall the guy can still hit well. Why pay someone else to take a guy who can crush like him? 12M left for his 2010 salary and he walks anyway, then worry about 3B and not the 32-33 YO Figgins either PLEASE.

I agree with huzzah. Lowell will be the starting 3B for the Sox on opening day, 2010, if healthy. If/when he is too unhealthy to play, Mike will retire from MLB...as a player.

Speculation regarding Ortiz, Lowell or Varitek is pointless, as all three (for better or worse) are Red Sox in 2010. None of them will be Red Sox in 2011, but all will be in 2010. As many have pointed out, they need to resolve the SS and LF issues, and that is it (and even these spots will probably just be manned by holdovers Bay and Gonzalez). All other spots are full (except maybe 1-2 bullpen slots if Wagner leaves and Saito is cut loose). Kinda boring, I know, but I just don't see anything else brewing this winter. Figgins is an interesting option, though--I could see replacing Baldelli with Figgins and finding him 140 games between 3B and corner OF spots.

As a big Sox fan, I would like to keep Mike Lowell for next year. Great in the clubhouse. I know his range is not what it was, I would bet a lot of that is due to his hip surgery. Unless the Sox can get a halfway decent return in a trade, keep him. Because he is due $12 million next year, the Sox will not get much in return at all.

I am always amused by the talk along the lines of "We can't trade Mike Lowell" or "It's time to trade Mike Lowell". Needless to say, whether or not we trade him depends on the return. Who are the Cards likely to send us in exchange? If accompanied by Bowden, will we get a big bat?

"Who are the Cards likely to send us in exchange?"

As soon as the Rays non tender Akimora, the Cards already have a slicker fielding option that hits and will cost 2-4M (guess) for the 2010 season, so why should they give up anything at all, plus pay any part of Lowell's 12M 2010 salary?

It really doesnt matter if Boston SHOULD trade Lowell, because if he doesn't want to go, he's not going.
That being said, I don't think the Red Sox should trade him. As someone already said, he is still capable of putting up 25/100/.280-.290 in a full season. And is great defensively, not as good as he used to be, but still great. He's still one of the top 15 3B in the ML.

Lowell isn't going anywhere. At worst, he platoons at DH with Ortiz if the sox acquire a slugging 1B like A-Gonz or Prince while Youk goes to 3B. I actually would like to see him stay and take over DH when Papi's contract is up for say 3-5 mil, depending on this season. Either that or sign Dunn after 2010 to DH!

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I say decline the option, and suggest Varitek he decline the player option and sign on as an assistant coach, where his opinion regarding pitching and catching, not to mention his leadership can still be respected without the liability of his bat and arm these days.

Actually the real discussion is what do you do with an over the hill DH that can only DH and not do that very well anymore. Keep Tek, use him at catcher 40% of the time to reduce wear on V-Mart, strait up release and eat the 12 mm owed to Ortiz. This way you can rotate Drew, Lowell and V-Mart through the DH spot and keep them fresh and keep their far supieror bats in the line-up

No way should the Red Sox get rid of Lowell. No one to play there everyday unless they're interested in moving Youk over to third(which might be possible come 2011 depending on the development of Lars Anderson). Lowell may not be in the top tier anymore, but he's still extremely reliable and a great guy to have in the clubhouse. If they are actually interested in trading him and taking some of the salary, the Orioles might be interested, as they do need a stopgap at third base until Josh Bell is ready.

Mike Lowell has no-trade protection...hes going nowhere..

Mikey Lowell isn't going anywhere. He's one of the key glue pieces in the clubhouse, he's a guy who bridges the latino and white cultures.

And he produces. In his contract year, with better health, he'll play rock solid defense and hit more than enough to carry his weight.

Yeah, he won't play 160 games, but we have enough depth to make up for that.

In 2011, Youk can shoot over to third when Lars Anderson is ready to take over first.