Mike Lowell ???????
by Jason A on Feb 16, 2010 12:33 PM EST
Email
Print
So pitchers and catchers are reporting soon and Mike Lowell is still on the roster. He had surgery on his thumb, which is what stopped the trade to Texas. According to reports he should be able to play in Spring Training. So what do we do with Mike Lowell?
I like Lowell for how good he plays and for how well he plays too. I know his defense has suffered since the hip injury but nobody can deny that he can still hit. With this in mind I say we should keep him on the roster this year instead of trading him and I have numerous reasons why. Yes I understand he wont be happy being a part time player but oh well....you still get your 12 million and a chance at another ring.
1. Why pay him 9 million to play somewhere else when for 3 million more he can contribute.
2. Have him platoon with Ortiz. Lowell against lefties and Ortiz against righties.
3. Insurance for Beltre. I think Beltre is going to have a great year but he is coming off an injury. If Beltre goes down for a lot of the year who do you want? Billy Hall, Lowrie, or Lowell manning 3rd for an extended period of time.
4. Insurance for Youk and Ortiz too. If any of these 2 go down or Ortiz flops in the first few months again we have a guy that averages 17 homers and 75+ RBI's with a bad hip on the bench.
6. A real threat hitter off the bench. Now I dont know if he would definitely be a good pinch hitter but he definitely has the talent to hit. Having a professional hitter with pop coming of the bench could be huge.
5. With him coming off of surgery, I just dont think we can get value back for him. The only way we can is if he goes crazy during spring training. And even then it wont be a top prospect and we will still have to dish out a lot of his contract.
I understand if the Sox can get anything for him that they will ship him. And that it has more to do with respect for Lowell than a real baseball decision. He is good enough to start for a lot of teams. The guy can still hit, he plays the game right, he wants to start, and is a class act. but you just dont give away good, solid, players for nothing because they want to be a starter. I also understand that they could use a few million of savings, but seriously, what is 3 million when you lose all the insurance that Lowell gives you.
So what do you think.
1. Trade Lowell for anything and pay most of his contract
2. Keep Lowell for insurance and occasional fill in.
3. Lowell platoon with Ortiz and #2.
51 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Trade Lowell
$12mil is WAYYY too much for a player who isn’t getting dressed for 140+ games a year. If someone goes down to injury there will be someone there to take his place. I love Lowell and everything he did for the club, now we owe it to him to find him a place where he has a full chance to be an everyday contributing player.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
$12 million is a largely sunken cost.
No reason to look at how much we’re paying him in any context other than “how much can we get back”
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Feb 16, 2010 5:55 PM EST up reply actions
I think we owe it to him too
but at what cost? 12 million is too much for 250+ AB or more, but 9 million for zero isnt?
I doubt it would even get to 250 ABs here. He can’t play defense anymore, he would really just be eating up a roster spot here. We can save $3mil by sending him elsewhere and get him a shot to play. Right now that roster spot is the most important thing. It’s a business, Lowell and his salary no longer have a place here. Plus I think Lowrie can come in if there are any injury problems, the team finally gave him enough time to heal and unlike Lowell, time is on his side.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
you're missing a big part of the reason for getting rid of Lowell
which is that while he can produce with the bat, there is not a decent spot for him to go and he is going to be eating up a valuable roster spot that should go to a decent backup 1B. Right now, our only backup plan for if youk is injured is moving Martinez there and playing Varitek every day. He simply doesn’t have a place on the team.
He doesn’t provide much insurance at all because he is not an adequate defensive replacement for anyone. If Beltre went down, of those options, I would most like to see Lowrie in there getting a shot now that he’s healthy- without a broken wrist he should provide decent offense and good defense at the position.
Also, Tito just doesn’t like to pinch hit. He rarely ever has and rarely ever will, even if Lowell is on the bench.
So.....
You have more trust in Lowrie being a long term replacement due to injury than Lowell? I find it more of a possibility that Lowell stays because he has to be a long term replacement for Lowrie LOL!!! Why couldnt Lowell play first if that happened? I know his range isnt what it used to be but he holds onto what he gets to. I find it hard to believe that anybody thinks Lowrie is a better insurance policy. Especially considering his health record.
Plus I think Lowrie is going to AAA to show he can hit still and stay healthy for a long period of time. I believe that is why they signed Billy Hall.
Also who is this valuable backup 1b that you would rather have in the lineup over Lowell?
a few things
Lowell has played one game at first in his career. He is not a first baseman, and would not adequately field it. Francona has stated that he would not put Lowell at first because he is not a firstbaseman. Lowrie is going to AAA, but they did not sign Hall. They traded for him, which saved them significant money- especially as far as annual payroll goes.
Lowrie has a health history of one injury that was dealt with very poorly.
I would rather see Aaron Bates on the roster as a backup 1B than see Lowell on it. It also looks increasingly like Russell Branyan may have to end up taking a part time role, and he would be absolutely fantastic to have in case of emergency.
Branyan
for the right price sounds great!!!!! Lowell at first isnt ideal by any means and would only be necessary if Youk went down long term anyways. I feel paying him 12 million to platoon w/Ortiz and an occassional start at 3rd is better than paying him 9 million to play for a competitor. Even though he wouldnt like playing part time, I dont believe he would be a cancer in the locker room.
If they can get something decent in return for a trade then trade him. From what I have been hearing is that they could get less than what the Rangers already offered them.
Why pay him 9 million to play somewhere else when for 3 million more he can contribute.
What can he actually contribute? He can’t hit on the road (.276/.331/.382) Yuck. He can’t hit RHPs that well anymore (.285/.324/.460 = around replacement level for a 1B/DH/player with no defensive value). He cant run the bases. He can’t play 3B. He’s never played 1B – the only position he still has the range to play adequately.
Many of his fly balls turned into ground balls this year (a 6.2% swing!) and his infield fly ball percentage was a career high – both deeply troubling signs. Yet his HR/FB% was the highest its been in his career in Boston. His plate discpline went downhill steeply and he swung at 26.6% of pitches out of the strikezone – a career high by almost 4% and 6.4% over his career average. These are the hallmarks of a hitter in serious decline and near the end.
As for hitting RHPs – Im sure many of you looked at that line and thought “That’s not so bad!” Again, for a guy with no defensive ability that is terrible. You can grab a random 1B from AAA who can put up that line. For those of you who remain unconvinced, though, Mike hit .314/.353/.607 at home against RHP because he used the Monster. Away vs RHPs? .299/.333/.259. He can’t hit RHPs AND he can’t hit on the road. Toast.
So, what can Mike Lowell actually do for us? I suppose he could pinch hit late for one of our LHHs – and then we’d immediately have to send in a pinch runner. Sadly, the LHH we’d want to use him for don’t even have major platoon problems. Maybe Ortiz, but in his career he hasnt had big problems.
Mike Lowell is an absolute corpse. We’re going to try like hell to move his contract. If we can’t its still 50/50 we release him prior to the season beginning. He has no role on this team. We saw more evidence of this yesterday when the Sox were linked with Russell Branyan, who would essentially do the same thing Lowell could do – except much better all around.
Have him platoon with Ortiz. Lowell against lefties and Ortiz against righties.
Tying up two roster spots for a platoon at DH where neither guy can run well or field is not something Id be okay with.
Insurance for Beltre. I think Beltre is going to have a great year but he is coming off an injury. If Beltre goes down for a lot of the year who do you want? Billy Hall, Lowrie, or Lowell manning 3rd for an extended period of time.
The only way this would work is Lowell at 1B and Youk at 3B. Lowell can not play a passable 3B anymore. He has no lateral movement. Even then, we can’t keep a backup for everyone around, and if we need a guy at 1B we can do better than Lowell. Lowell is a replacement level bat at 1B at best.
Insurance for Youk and Ortiz too. If any of these 2 go down or Ortiz flops in the first few months again we have a guy that averages 17 homers and 75+ RBI’s with a bad hip on the bench.
If Ortiz flops replacing him with another flop who can’t hit RHPs or hit on the road would not be my first choice. If Ortiz flops we’re going to have to go outside the team to find a solution. Lowell won’t cut it if we have championship aspirations.
RBIs say more about the guys around him than they do about him and are a terrible way to evaluate player performance. His HRs were a joke. Of Mike Lowell’s 17 HRs in 2009 only 5 were hit on the road! ALL of them were pulled down the LF line! Good thing he plays in Fenway, eh?
Here… go to this and click HRs if you want a laugh. NOTE: Make sure you’ve given up all hope Mike Lowell can still hit before you click HRs or this process could be very painful for you.
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_player_hitting_chart.jsp?c_id=bos&playerID=136780&statType=1
A real threat hitter off the bench. Now I dont know if he would definitely be a good pinch hitter but he definitely has the talent to hit. Having a professional hitter with pop coming of the bench could be huge.
Mike Lowell is not a threat anymore. He does NOT have the talent to hit anymore. Its all an illusion caused by his park and luck.
you just dont give away good, solid, players for nothing because they want to be a starter.
Very true, but Lowell no longer fits that description and its incredibly unlikely any team in baseball would let him start at this point.
I would honestly trade him for a bag of balls and I would eat $10mm to do it. He is completely useless to the 2010 Red Sox. All the roles you’ve proposed for him we could very easily go out and get a better player for cheaply. Lowell could be marginally useful to a team with a LH 1B or DH with platoon problems. That’s about it. Lets hope some GM is dumb enough to take this guy on when they could have signed a superior player like Ryan Garko for a fraction of the price Lowell would cost. Omar, Im looking at you…
Not a huge split
But it gives lie to the notion that he can’t hit on the road.
Look at his home/away splits at Fangraphs. Over the course of the season, he drove the ball better when he was home, as evidenced by his linedrive/flyball vs. groundball percentages. The previous three seasons, he was much more evenly matched home and away.
You can argue that’s because he changed his approach at home after the torn labrum, but I’d argue that during his two lousy months – June, right before he went on the DL, and September, when he just looked done – he was really hurting, and he played 25 games away versus 15 at home, killing his splits. Other than those two months, he OPS’d around .900, if not better.
Manny ain't the only bad man.
You can argue that’s because he changed his approach at home after the torn labrum
Im arguing that his pop is mostly gone post labrum, and that Fenway hid the effect. We can see this in the big split in HR/FB between home and away.
Although I believe he did change his approach at home somewhat, more relevant is that his diminished abilities are hidden by the dimensions of Fenway
If Fenway hid the effect
and he only hit so well at home because of the dimensions, then outs away would translate to hits at home, right? But his BABIP was equal home and away.
He was toast in September. It had nothing to do with where he played, he just had nothing left. And he played 5 games at home and 15 on the road. It killed his splits.
Manny ain't the only bad man.
Fenway also changes fly outs into home runs
And home runs are not balls in play.
Lowell pulled all 17 of his home runs, for the record.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Feb 17, 2010 12:33 AM EST up reply actions
the hit tracker that was linked earlier shows 1 HR to the triangle :D
by Please Shoot Me on Feb 17, 2010 6:03 PM EST up reply actions
I just watched all 12 of his Fenway homers.
Nothing even to center. All of them over the monster.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Feb 17, 2010 6:36 PM EST up reply actions
Fair enough. I believe you, but the hit tracker definitely shows 1 to center.
by Please Shoot Me on Feb 17, 2010 7:06 PM EST up reply actions
Lowell could be marginally useful to a team with a LH 1B or DH with platoon problems.
That could be Ortiz
Its all an illusion caused by his park
He would still be playing in Fenway if we kept him right?
Now dont get me wrong, I was one of the people that thought Lowell was gone after 07 cuz I didnt think he was worth the $ because of his age. And I agree Russell Branyan would def be a better option but if they dont get Branyan who else is there?
Has he declined? Absolutely
Does he have better home stats? Yep and so do just about anyone on the team.
Would Lowell be my first choice to start anywhere on the team as it presently stands? No of course not.
But I love all this talk about how getting rid of him save 3 million cuz the Sox have to save some money because of the luxury tax. Then how is it no problem to pay him, not only 9 million to go somewhere else, but all of his contract and get nothing at all. And still be able to pay someone else to fill in when (if) someone gets hurt.
LHP – .301 avg……363 OBP………503 SLG
HOME- .307 AVG….. 344 obp……….588 SLG
Thats alright though cuz the Sox have always kicked a$$ against left handed hitters, especially at home.
Again not ideal, yes I would prefer a better option. But the Sox are getting on limited resources with very little options left out there presently. Now you pointed out what Lowell absolutely sucks at (they were worse than I thought) but he does hit lefties pretty good and he does hit good at Home and if the Sox kept him half their games would still be at home.
The problem is
That the amount of time he’ll be able to play for us at home against LHP’s is going to be hugely minimal. If we can move him, then we have a free spot to pick up someone who can contribute a lot more; someone like Bates or Branyan. At this point I don’t think the FO cares too much about the money, it’s the same deal with Lugo, we can’t afford to have him hurt the club when we can go out and get someone to replace him that would contribute. And if you do want to look at the money, look at it this way: we can pay him $12 million to hurt or do essentially nothing for the ballclub, or we can pay $9 million to have someone contribute, even a little bit, to the success.
Yup
- Ortiz has never really had a big platoon problem. He’s actually always hit LHPs pretty well – though, obviously not as well as he hits RHPs (nor would we expect that). Ortiz’s career line agaisnt LHPs isnt bad at all: .262/.337/.482. Now, obviously we wouldnt expect him to be that good these days, but IF he does bounce back the platoon split shouldnt be an issue – and IF he does NOT bounce back, there are bigger problems than his platoon split and we need to replace him altogether.
- As JoCro says, its really the opportunity cost that kills us with Lowell. If his bat had declined but he could still play 3B Id feel much better… but as it stands (barring a major bounceback from his hip problems which almost certainly isnt coming given his advanced age) he’s a 1B/DH only, with emergency duty at 3B possible, though you wouldnt want him there in a close game since he really covers no ground anymore.
Could we find a 1B/DH who can outhit Lowell? Absolutely. The minors are chock full of them. Its extremely easy to find that kind of offense at 1B. Jeff Bailey and Chris Carter are two guys we recently let go who basically bring the same exact package to the table that Lowell does these days – and without Lowell’s obvious limitations. A league average hitter is a replacement level 1B/DH. In fact, we could have signed Garko, as I mentioned. Or Jermaine Dye. Or Carlos Delgado. All are clearly superior options to Lowell, IMHO. Delgado batted .298/.393/.521 last year in a pitcher friendly park. He can’t run or play defense any more and consequently HE cant get a job, even on the cheap. That should give you an idea of how little value Mike Lowell has these days. Both in trade and on the field, where he really is eminently replaceable.
With the limitations on Lowell compared to what he brings to the table I just dont see how we can afford to keep him on the roster.
wow I didnt realize
we had all of those 1b down in the minors that was capable of batting 275 17HR and 70+RBI’s (I know a useless stat again), I take back everything now that I know we have all of these guys in the minors that can even do better than that. Can you just do me one favor, cuz I went to a few PawSox games last year, but I dont remember 1 guy that could do that. Can you just name me one 1b that we have in the minors that could do that? Also can you answer me why he isnt already in the majors?
I said "in the minors", meaning "around baseball"
That is, cheaply and easily aquirable. Guys like Mike Jacons, Kila Kaiahue, Jeff Bailey, Chris Carter (our former player, not the Oakland guy), Micah Hoffpauir, Kevin Barker. Mike Carp, Ryan Strieby, etc… there are tons of these guys who are good bets to be similarly productive to the 2010 Mike Lowell (who isnt as good as you’re projecting anyway – think his true talent, not with park effects, because all or most of these guys would similarly benefit).
But regardless, I gave you three examples of unsigned free agents who could beat the hell out of Lowell’s line.
There are plenty of other 1B who could probably outproduce Lowell who could be had for a song. Lyle Overbay, Ty Wigginton, Daric Barton, Mike Morse, Josh Phelps, Juan Miranda, Paul McAnulty (who we had last year – there is a good example), Travis Ishikawa, Daniel Murphy, Willy Aybar, Casey Kotchman (who we gave away for cap relief), Dmitri Young, Hank Blalock, Chris Shelton, Ryan Shealy, Ben Broussard, Ross Gload. I went down the 2010 CHONE projections and found a bunch. There are more.
Again, there really isnt that much reason to think Lowell can put up that kind of line you’re projecting anyway. He’d have to get equally lucky again and not regress because of age (which is friggin unlikely considering he’s a plodding 36 year old with a bad hip and declining old player skills).
Thought of two more Id rather have: Barry Bonds and Frank Thomas. Oh, and Jim Thome and Jason Giambi took jobs as backup players and theyre both better players than Lowell.
those projections
are with park effects since he would be playing for the Red Sox. We get rid of Kotchman for cap relief but are just able to drop Lowell and pay him 12 million to sit at home? It cant go both ways and that is why I brought up the question. If the team is how it stands right now and the Sox have a choice between paying 9 million to play for someone else or 12 million to contribute here which would they do.
You seem to think they can just drop Lowell, then sign Branyan for 6 million. And if Kotchman is so much better then why didnt they just keep him. He can field with the best of them and he is younger. So y didnt they just cut Lowell and keep Kotchman?
You misunderstood
The Kotchman trade gave us more than the cap relief of losing Kotchman. We also got Hall (who is a nice on field fit as well) and Hall’s salary was entirely paid by other teams (MIL/SEA). Because Hall’s salary was being paid in full it comes off our cap, and what makes it really nice is he was being paid almost $10mm – which comes off our cap, while his AAV was only $6mm, so Hall actually saves us 3 and change room against the cap simply by being on our team.
If they sign Branyan, it will be for a mill or two, not $6mm
Guys like him arent getting anything close to those amounts.
I think they very well could end up releasing Lowell. Moving Kotchman, as I explained above, had cap ramification above just losing Kotchman. Kotchman, unlike Lowell, had some decent trade value (enough to get us a player we like in Hall and for SEA to pay his $9mm salary!).
The issue was Kotchman was so much better than Lowell that he was almost too good to be a bench guy for us! He became a bench player when we got Beltre on the cheap. If we never signed Beltre Theo has made it clear in comments that the starters would indeed have been Kotchman and Youkilis at 3B. He actually told Beltre’s agent Lowell was never a potential starter for us at 3B.
Lowell w/RISP
since RBI’s are a useless stat of luck. is .313 avg, .359 OBP, .516 SLG
Mmm-hmm.
W/RISP (also a pretty poor judge of a hitter’s talents, fwiw)
w/RISP & Home: .349/.371/.730(!)
w/RISP & Away: .277/.347/.308
Mike knows how to lean over and knock balls off the wall. He’s not actually a good hitter.
I get everyone loves the guy and they can’t let go, but post labrum surgery Mike Lowell is not a good baseball player. This is going to sound flippant, but he’s like a relative on life support or a dog that has to be put down and some fans are fighting the obvious decision. Mike is already gone. The player he was is long gone. Its probably best to think of his labrum as a career ending injury. He just does not a have a place on this team any way you cut it.
Hell, I loved Dwight Evans, Bret Saberhagen, Curt Schilling, etc… but just like Lowell, they have no place on a 2010 Red Sox team with championship aspirations. Even if we get stuck and keep Mike on the roster at the beginning of the year I guarantee you he won’t be on the roster by the end of the year. His time as a Red Sox player is effectively over and Theo has made that very clear – and there’s lots of good reasons why that is so. Time to move on.
I understand Lowell is gone
I thought he was gone after 07 to be honest with you. He isnt the player he used to be, obviously. But he is signed to the Sox for 12 million. They dont want to just cut him and get nothing for it because he costs 12 million. As alskor so eloquently pointed out they have already made moves because of cap relief. So isnt it safe to assume they are going to want to get something for that 12 million. Im asking is it better to keep him on for 12 million and platoon or trade him for nothing and pay him 9 million.
Everybody on here thinks the sox will just drop him, pay the 12 million, and then sign another starter-type player for 6 million to play the bench. Y couldnt Lowell just do that anyways?
His on field abilities are not good enough for him to be on our roster at this point.
We dont care about the money. That’s a sunk cost. We could drop him and sign a replacement who would be a far better player for much less than $6mm. We already signed another starter in Adrian Beltre.
Lowell doesn’t have much left in the tank. His hitting is in decline and he can’t play defense anymore. Heck we can get Lowrie to come in and play 3rd if need be and he’s on a MUCH cheaper contract. The $12mil is going to be a sunk cost, a lot like Lugo last year, sucks we have to pay it but otherwise Lowell is just a wasted spot on the roster for a player who can’t do anything for us. We owe it to him to give him a shot elsewhere, if we can save $3mil in the deal, all the better.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Not to beat a dead horse
but I think 2009 Lugo had more to offer than 2010 Lowell does. He’s that bad.
I think so too. Maybe not that hes as bad, but there is someone far more capable in his place now. Last year our choices at short were Lugo, Lowrie if healthy, and Nick Green before AlGonz showed up at the end.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
The Injury takes over a year to heal
What I find interesting is how everyone has forgotten 1 thing. He had his surgery around December of last year. The average recovery time is 12 months. Mikey was on the field much sooner…. Playing in pain does slow you… alot. To be pain free he really needed have 3-4 months more rest. Not so much that he was aggravating the injury, people in rehab work just as hard, but that their is still an instinctive hesitation before moving. Lets look at Lowell in spring training this year before declaring him toast.
Yeah I know, other guys have come back from surgeries and have been just fine, others never make it back at all. Given the nature of his injury he should have sat out the year, but lets see him after the full year of recovery and some actual rest.
Old players don't heal all that well
And Lowell didn’t get a particularly large amount of rest.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Feb 17, 2010 12:26 AM EST up reply actions
Do you have a source for that 12 month figure?
I dont think that’s accurate. Obviously the farther he’s removed from surgery the better, but Im not sure there’s any reason to expect him to have made some sort of miraculous recovery over the winter.
Also, at his age he was already slowing down in the field and on the bases and his bat was slowing. His components already showed a decline which the labrum injury hastened IMO.
When do you have to perform surgery on a labrum tear in the hip, what’s the prognosis and recovery time?
MP: Prognosis is excellent and usually on average it varies from 8 weeks all the way 16 weeks.
NOTE: Does not mean back to full speed, though
http://hackswithhaggs.com/2008/09/18/can-lowell-keep-fighting-through.aspx
the major concern is that if Rodriguez does need surgery to repair the torn labrum, the recovery time would very likely be longer than the initially-reported timetable of 10 weeks, and perhaps something closer to four months, as Cashman suggested Thursday. Labral tears of the hip are usually the result of repetitive trauma, and in the case of a power hitter the rapid torsion that the hips are repeatedly subjected to during the bat-swinging process is the likely culprit.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=bell_stephania&entryID=3954149
Utley, for one, had labral surgery in late November and is optimistic that he’ll be ready for Opening Day. “Optimistic” is not “certain,” though, and the time lapse between Utley’s surgery and Opening Day will be about 19 weeks.NOTE: He WAS ready and was back to full speed.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=bell_stephania&entryID=3954149
AND we havent even mentioned his thumb surgery this offseason – from which he’s not fully recovered:
Actually I heard it both on ESPN, NESN and I believe it was part of the initial announcement, He would be able to play in 3-4 months but that a full return to form would take about a year. I am willing to hold my opinion until spring training, and we see how he performs. Yes, the thumb surgery is an issue, but nothing close to a weight bearing limb.
Even if he is healthy
Then what?
We have no place for him now with Beltre. You really want to have an old $12mil bench player on the team? He can’t offer anything to the team of any value, whereas he has a value for other teams who aren’t as solid at 3rd as we are, we owe it to him to trade him to a place he can start.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Platoon
Lowell vs LH – .301 avg .363 OBP .503 SLG tOPS+ 114
sOPS+ 123
Ortiz vs LH – .212 avg .298 OBP .418 SLG tOPS+ 80
sOPS+ 102
If you are already paying him 12million why not use him at what he is good at still and take away a weakness from another aging, declining player.
But I cant imagine dropping Lowell and picking up another player that can offer this against LH and essentially costing the Red Sox more money for basically the same thing.
Now if we can get at least a decent prospect, pay for most of his, and use the 3 million for a player that offers similiar stuff then great!!
Essentially paying 12million for the same or slightly better production and getting a player.
He isn't going to want that
I’m impressed he’s held his tongue so far but I assume that is because the front office has promised him that as soon as possible they are going to send him elsewhere. If they don’t and he ends up as a platoon DH I promise you he is going to make noise about it. He’s a sunk cost, factored in already. If Ortiz sucks it up (which I’m not certain he will, after the first two months of the season he was back to his old self pretty much) we will find someone else to take over that won’t cost us $3mil. We can save $3mil, get a prospect or bench player and give Lowell what he deserves, a starting spot elsewhere, by trading him, just makes the most sense.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
If we can't trade him, then I'm OK with him on the roster
If we can’t get anything of value, then the salary issue doesn’t come into play. And what the hell’s wrong with having platooning DHers (remember, we’re forgetting the salary issue). He’d likely be healthier, faster, and a better glove man than last year so he’d be adequate to have as a backup 3B/1B as well. He’d be an excellent late inning PH. He’s terrific in the clubhouse. There’s only one thing that would keep me from wanting to do it and that’s if Mike absolutely wants out.
Biggest drawback is the injury possibility to Youk, but that’s another way Mike would be able to play (1B) everyday. Right now, I trust Mike more than Lowrie.
No, it’s not ideal for us or Mike, but it’s workable. And if he can’t be traded before the season, there’s always the trading deadline push so I doubt he’d stay more than half a season unless Ortiz bottoms out.
The problem is versatility.
We have platoon DHs, that’s one fewer roster spot for someone who can play a position. Keep in mind we have nobody to really fill in at SS.
Thank God for the Ellsbury-Cameron duo giving us the ability to forgo a backup CF, but still.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Feb 17, 2010 11:05 PM EST up reply actions
right now the bench is
Hermida (LF/RF), Tek ©, Hall (everytwhere except P/C) and Lowell (DH/3B/1B)
Again I hope they can trade him and get something of value. I actually liked the Max Ramirez (thats right?) trade because at least recently he was considered a high catching prospect. Granted he has dipped some the last 2 years but at least the talent is there. I just dont think we should trade him for absolutely nothing, whether he likes it or not. In the end it is a business. Hopefully that isnt the case and he can start for somebody else and have another productive year.
Maybe he shouldnt have asked for that extra year and then he wouldnt have to worry about being a bench player for the Sox, he would have already been a free agent lol
We didn't give him the extra year.
It was 3 years vs. 4 years
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Feb 19, 2010 3:51 AM EST up reply actions
i thought
the sox didnt even want to go the three years…..i thought they initially offered 2 yrs and then went to the 3 yr 39 million
No
In fact, there was a report where the writer said Theo wasn’t “keen” on offering Lowell 3 years, and then that was immediately debunked when the Red Sox OFFERED him 3 years as early as November 8th. Lowell didn’t sign till 11 days later, so presumably that was not the end result of some sort of bargaining back and forth over a 3rd year, but just the initial offer.
Remember, Lowell had 4-year offers on the table elsewhere. It’s one of the reasons why it kinda sucks to be doing this to him now after he left money on the table to stay here.
But the team comes first.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Feb 19, 2010 11:01 AM EST up reply actions
ok
maybe Im remembering the reports about Theo not being “keen” on it cuz I wasnt either. I do remember him getting better deals and him turning it down to stay with the Sox.
It does suck and I think the Sox will do what they can for him, just as long it doesnt kill the team. I think the Sox have done a pretty good job of that over the last decade or so. A lot better than Duquette lol
Injury to youk
The Sox happen to be one of the luckier teams in the majors in that they have their AAA club just down the road about 2-3 hours. Youk gets hurt during afternoon drills and Bates could be taking throws at first the same night. Heck Hall could be taking those throws until a timeline for Youk’s return could be determined. Lowell’s presence doesn’t effect that. Why do we assume Lowell’s replacement is going to be an infielder, especially since Theo was going after a catching prospect in the first place?
I really think everyone, including the FO has underestimated Lowell. I just hope we aren’t sorry when we find out.
the catching prospect wasn't to replace Lowell on the 25 man roster
it was to have a potential slugger in the minors. The replacement 1B is for the 25 man roster, not necessarily who Lowell would be traded for.
true
Ramirez wasnt going to be on the major league club, even though he is projected to be a 1b/DH type in the future because of his bat and suspect defense. I think they wanted him to go to the minors.
But my whole point of this topic was on the talk about the Sox not even getting that much for Lowell because of the thumb surgery. What if all we are getting is someone who’s ceiling is maybe getting to the majors instead of someone that was a highly touted prospect with an all star ceiling?
If that is the case I would rather keep him. Lets just hope he goes off during Spring Training and we can get something decent for him. That would be the best situation for the Sox and Mike Lowell.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Five tips for Showtime’s second season of ‘The Franchise’
- The 10 best things about being a Detroit Tigers fan
- Surprise! A’s finally end the Yoenis Cespedes derby with $36 million deal for Cuban star
- The time Whitney Houston sang to Jim Bowden
- Pitchers and catchers! Mariners get early start in Arizona
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
