The Boston Red Sox are considered to be one of the more classy and intelligent organizations in the MLB. If the Red Sox were to trade Mike Lowell, it would be by far the biggest mistake Theo Epstein will have made. Yes that's right, worse than the signing of Edgar "Rentanerror" Renteria.
Mike Lowell has done more than what the Red Sox had initially asked of him. He was a just an addition to the Josh Beckett deal, a guy that was thrown into the trade, to complete the transaction. What Florida really said was, by the way you can have Mike Lowell.
Lowell has been in Boston for four years. He has been the starting third baseman and has been very reliable.
He has been very productive with the bat. In 2007, the year he won the World Series MVP, hitting .324 with 21 home runs and 120 RBI. In 2006 he was named the This Year In Baseball defensive player of the year. At this point, there are two areas that Lowell can help the Red Sox in.
Since his hip injury, Lowell hasn't been able to return to his old ways with the glove or on the base paths for that matter. But two things that Lowell can bring are his strong leadership skills, considering now that Varitek has lost his starting catcher role, and the other is his bat. Lowell has the chance to be a strong DH in the American League.
It's clear the Red Sox are trying to make a move and in that move they are going to try to acquire Max Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez. I would imagine they want Ramirez to be the future backup catcher, being that they signed Varitek to a one—year deal.
I propose that the Sox shouldn't trade Lowell, but instead David Ortiz. He has clearly declined and although he hit 28 home runs last year, he is plain and simple slowing the team down.
The Sox should include Ortiz in either of these deals along with whatever prospects they have to give up. I don't know the full details of the deal, but San Diego will want prospects and Clay Bucholz.
The Red Sox can move Lowell to DH, Youkilis to third, and Gonzalez to first. I think in one of these deals, Varitek will be included.
The Red Sox will still have holes to fill, but I think keeping Ortiz and letting Lowell go is the wrong move. Lowell's leadership and production are greater than Ortiz's. I understand that Ortiz fueled a World Series in Beantown, but at this point, its time to cut the ties and move on.
The Red Sox are simply being too loyal in this situation and its very disrespectful to Lowell, who I am sure was hoping to finish his career in Boston.
There is still a hole in left field with the absence of Bay. I'd love to see Bay back in Boston for the simple fact he is perfectly suited for the town and the organization, but when his production declined, so did that of the team. I think the Red Sox need to bring Bay back because they have no better option. Holliday is available, but he is unproven in the American League.
The Red Sox have alot of problems to deal with from here on out, but as of now, even with the addition of Lackey, it doesn't look too promising this year for the Bosox. Then again that's what I said in 2007.
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