Lowell on the move....

There are many people who believe the Red Sox are the front runners for Mark Teixeira, but if the Sox obtain Tex they will more then likely look to move Mike Lowell. The 34 y/o right handed batting 3B is a lifetime .279 hitter. He is a gold glove winner, silver slugger, four time all-star, two time World Series champion and World Series MVP. To be honest when I thought of this post, I always compared Lowell to his former teammate Mark Loretta. Like Loretta I thought Lowell had been plugged in all over the field to keep him in the line-up both for his bat and leadership. But Lowell has basically played 3B his entire major league career, a position we won't have to fill for at least five years. But Lowell did play 8 games at 2B in 2005 and was All-conference 3 out of 4 years in college as a 2B.

he continued to develop his skills on the baseball diamond, drawing All-Conference honors as a second sacker three times. source jock bio

It was the Yankees, who drafted him 1998 and moved him to 3B while still in the minors, reports indicate that he initially struggled at the position. It has been speculated since he came to Boston that he would either be moved to 1B or 2B and he's always involved in trade rumors. But if Tex is signed the Red Sox will either move him or have a very expensive DH platoon (Ortiz/Lowell). Lowell is owed 24M over the next two years.

So how would he fit into the Mets plans, the Mets have been looking for a veteran winning leader and a right handed bat. I believe they will eventually move Luis Castillo, after all he's the last of the boo birds targets and unlike Andruw Jones who vowed to re-gain his career, Castillo is still a no-show in the winter leagues. Castillo's contract may take a while to find a fit to move him but somehow Omar will get it done, by then all the 2B could be signed. Lowell won't be moved until spring training when he can prove he's healthy and at that time of year the Mets might be one of the only teams that can take on a chunk of salary. The Sox will take on a portion of Lowell's contract just as we will to move Castillo and the money could come out even. When all said and done, in late spring could Lowell be our 2B ?

If and when the Sox do obtain Teixeira, the next hard part would be dealing with the Mike Lowell fallout.The Red Sox would likely spin Lowell to another team once the classy third baseman starts showing he's healthy in spring training, but the awkward nature of the situation is troubling. Lowell has two years remaining on his deal for $24 million. The late date in which he would be traded (March) is not a time when teams have a lot of money to spend, so it would appear Boston would have to eat some of it. Or they could persuade Lowell to stay and work into a rotation, especially if they feel David Ortiz's wrist isn't 100 percent. source Boston Globe