Mike Lowell
Rumors

Mike Lowell trade speculation has run rampant for the past two years, but all the bluster finally seems to be amounting to something and numerous reports are indicating that the Boston Red Sox will trade Lowell to the Texas Rangers for prospect catcher Max Ramirez. 

If the trade is completed the Red Sox will likely have to pay a majority of the $12M remaining on Lowell's contract, which runs only through the up coming 2010 season.  Because the Red Sox will be paying more than $1M of Lowell's salary, the trade is subject to approval by the commissioners office.  Another potential hang up to the trade are Lowell's medical records.  Lowell has a history of injuries and is 35 years old. 

If the Lowell trade is completed, the Red Sox will have to look for another option at third base.  Kevin Youkilis is always an option for the team, having come up through the organization as a third baseman and recently he has split time between first and third base.  The Red Sox have been rumored to have interest in free agent Adrian Beltre, a Scott Boras client. 

In speaking with Boston Globe reporter Peter Abraham, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels was elusive, but did not deny the trade rumors.  Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein was unavailable for comment. 

Joel Sherman of the New York Post is reporting that if the deal is completed, it will not be for a while.  Nevertheless, Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated believes the deal has a better than 50-50 chance of being completed.

Are Mike Lowell's days in Boston over?

The Tigers payroll was over $115M in 2009 and despite a competitive playoff run to the very end of the season, the team is looking to pare down its payroll for 2010 and moving Miguel Cabrera could save the team a lot of money.  Detroit has already openly shopped outfielder Curtis Granderson ($23.75M left on his contract from 2010-2012) and pitcher Edwin Jackson (arbitration eligible and due for a big raise) and not recieved too many bites.  Cabrera's contract blows away that of Granderson and Jackson, as he's set to make the following in each year of his deal: 10:$20M, 11:$20M, 12:$21M, 13:$21M, 14:$22M, 15:$22M. 

Despite being owed $126M over the next six years, there will still be interest in Cabrera because of his immense productivity.  Some potentially interested teams include:

Red Sox: David Ortiz and Mike Lowell come off the books after 2010 and if the Red Sox can convince the Tigers to give them some financial relief in 2010, the money might work out.

Angels: When Cabrera was traded from Florida to Detroit, the Angels were heavily involved in the bidding and would be happy to take Cabrera now, two years later.

Mets: With Carlos Delgado's likely departure, the Mets have a hole at first base that Cabrera could fill.

White Sox: Similar to the Red Sox, the White Sox remove Paul Konerko from the books after 2010 and Cabrera would fill in nicely.

Giants: They are in desperate need of offense, but already have two big contracts in Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand and would need to put Pablo Sandoval somewhere.

Mariners: Resigning Felix Hernandez is their priority, but Cabrera would be a big addition to their anemic offense.

Braves: Much like the Giants, they could really use the offensive help, but may lack the financial flexilibity to bring on Cabrera.  Moving Derek Lowe or Javier Vazquez would allieviabe some financial constraints.

Financial reasons will force the Tigers to try and move Miguel Cabrera this off season

Roy Halladay is currently dominating the headlines, but Ken Rosenthal from Fox Sports has a few other notes to pass along.

• The Red Sox have inquired with the Rockies about acquiring Garrett Atkins in exchange for Takashi Saito.  While this would relieve the Rockies of Atkins $7.05M 2009 contract, performance incentives could elevate Saito's contract to $9M.  He's already guaranteed over $5M for 2009.  One interesting part of this rumor is the Red Sox obvious fear over the health of Mike Lowell if they're looking for another thirdbaseman.
• Alex Rios and Scott Rolen are also available along with Halladay from the Jays roster.  Moving either of those guys is possibly more difficult than Halladay.  Rolen is owed the remainder of his $11M contract for 2009 and $11M in 2010 along with a full no trade clause.   Rios is owed a staggering $63.2M from 2010-2014 and has a full no trade clause for 2009 and 2010. 
• If the Diamondbacks offer Doug Davis arbitration this off season and he does not accept, they'll likely receive a draft pick between 40 and 50 in the 2010 draft and thus are looking for that caliber of player from a club who might be interested in trading for him. 

Buster Olney of espn.com gave us updates today about the various pitchers that are available and the teams going after them in his latest post.

The most obvious player is the Phillies who were looking for pitching at the start of the month when Chan Ho Park and Jaime Moyer were not pitching well.  Now that Brett Myers needs hip surgery (is this anecdotal, or are we seeing more hip surgeries recently?  Chase Utley, Mike Lowell, A-Rod and now Myers...) the Phillies border on desperate. 

Pedro Martinez doesn't seem to make much sense for Citizens Bank Ballpark and he'd like tax an already overworked bullpen with five and six inning starts. Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt are options, but both the Padres and Astros are expected to ask for significant compensation something the Phillies might not be able to afford.  Erik Bedard is another option, but the Mariners gave us so much (Adam Jones and Chris Tillman) they may try to ask for something similar in return which might not be worth it. 

That leaves the most logical option and the one that has been frequently mentioned already: Brad Penny of the Red Sox.  Boston is a good match for the Phillies because they're rumored to be interested in shortstop Jason Donald.  The Red Sox have been rumored to be interested in Jack Wilson as well becuase of the difficulty they've had at shortstop this year, but Donald may be more appealing.

Ken Rosenthal has put together a huge column today. Let's take a look.

• Rosenthal predicts that John Lackey will be the biggest free agent pitcher for the 2010 class. Lackey's numbers are better than AJ Burnett who recently signed a five year $82.5M contract. The Angels do not seem likely to top that offer, however, and Rosenthal believes that Lackey could probably receive a very good offer on the open market.
• Scott Boras' ability to get a $60M, four year offer from the Braves for Derek Lowe when the only other known offer was for three years and $36M from the Mets can probably be attributed to the desperation the Braves faced after losing out on Burnett, John Smoltz and Jake Peavy.
• However Boras's approach does not appear to be working with Jason Varitek. According to Rosenthal, most executives view Boras and Varitek declining arbitration as foolish.
• The Dodgers are seemingly bidding against themselves for the services of Manny Ramirez, but there seems to be growing fear that if they do not include a third year, Ramirez would follow up on his threat to retire.
• There are rumors that the Red Sox have shown interest in free agent Adam Dunn, though it's hard to fit the pieces together to have the rumors make sense. Dunn would likely play first base for the Red Sox moving Kevin Youkilis to third and necessitating a trade of Mike Lowell. This made sense for a superior fielder like Mark Teixeira, but Dunn is average at best. One benefit to signing Dunn is that because the Diamondbacks did not offer him arbitration, the Sox would not lose any draft picks.
• Dunn and Bobby Abreu seem likely to get one year offers because of the thin 2010 free agent class. Matt Holliday will be available, but the talent pool after him is shallow. Teams who did not spend in 2009 (i.e., anyone not named the Yankees) are gearing up for a run at Holliday in 2010.
• Rosenthal believes that the Rangers are still highly unlikely to trade Michael Young. He is owed $59M over the next five years and $9.24M in deferred payments starting in 2016.
• The Yankees believe that Xavier Nady will be easily moved if necessary. Even if the team has to offer him arbitration for 2010, his current salary is only $3.35M, so the increase would not be too dramatic.
• Jason Isringhausen has four teams on the radar, one of which is the Tigers. The Cardinals are have said to not rule out bringing Isringhausen back.
• Randy Wolf turned down a three year $28.5M offer early in the off season from the Astros and seems unlikely to command that much anymore from limited suitors like the Dodgers.
• Despite a need for a bat, the Rangers are not going to trade for the White Sox Jermaine Dye or try budget free agents Frank Thomas or Nomar Garciaparra. They'd rather stick with Hank Blalock.
• The Red Sox and Diamondbacks are denying on being close with a deal that would send Miguel Montero to Boston.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has a new article:

• The first team Derek Lowe talked to his agent about once he was a free agent was the Red Sox.  Lowe notes that since leaving the team in 2004, he has matured and reigned in his personal life and would be a much better fit for the team now. 
• Roy Oswalt is lobbying hard for Ben Sheets to consider Houston.  If Sheets were to seriously consider Houston, would that affect their interest in Randy Wolf?
• It has long been rumored that if the Sox sign Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis would move to third base and the Red Sox would try to move Mike Lowell.  Cafardo lists the Dodgers, Angels, Indians and Twins as potential trade partners with the Red Sox for Lowell's services.  The Red Sox would likely have to eat some of Lowell's remaining contract with the last two teams, if not all four.
• Cafardo believes that Jermaine Dye would work out well with the Phillies, Mets or Rays.  If the Rays were interested, it would likely take more than Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson to pry Dye lose from the White Sox.
• Willie Bloomquist could fill in for the loss of Alex Cora at the utility position for the Red Sox.

Let's take a spin through today's chatter about Mark Teixeira.

• Buster Olney weighs in on the bidding for Teixeira.  He's curious if the Red Sox alleged interest is legitimate or simply a way to drive up the price for the Yankees.  The scenario that Olney proposes to sign Teixeira and retain Mike Lowell involves moving Kevin Youkilis  to left field, Jason Bay to right and JD Drew to center.  That doesn't seem very realistic at all.
• Olney contends that the Yankees will go after Teixeira aggressively, possibly offering over $120M.  Ken Davidoff of Newsday believes that the Yankees are prioritizing pitching, will pass on Teixeira and go after cheaper options like Kevin Millar or Casey Blake.
• The Angels allegedly told Francisco Rodriguez's agent that their priority this off season is Teixeira.  The Angels are expected to make a $120M offer to Teixeira as well.

Let's take a look through Jon Heyman's latest article:

• It seems more and more likely that CC Sabathia will sign with the Yankees. Jimmy Rollins, Sabathia's friend, thinks that's where he'll end up.
• Matt Holliday to the Yankees does not seem a likely fit.
• The Mets priorities going into the 2009 off season are, in order: catcher, bullpen, rotation, outfield and THEN second base. Surprising considering Luis Castillo's lackluster performance in 2008.
• Despite the rumors that the Red Sox will go after Mark Teixeira and make room for him by moving Kevin Youkilis to third base and trading Mike Lowell, Heyman does not like the Sox will have many takes for Lowell because of his injuries in 2008.
• The Brewers are rumored to be listening to offers for Prince Fielder. 

Let's take a look at John Perotto's latest column:

• The Red Sox are expected to offer Jason Varitek a two year contract in the range of $16M total.
• It seems likely that the Red Sox will try to move Mike Lowell in order to make a run at either signing Mark Teixeira or trading for Garrett Atkins.
• The Mets are rumored to be passing on Francisco Rodriguez and will focus on signing Brian Fuentes instead.
• Derek Lowe is expected to get a lot of attention from the Mets and the Red Sox.
• As reported earlier, Perotto also expects the Padres to go after Mark Mulder, Mark Prior and Matt Clement.
• The Blue Jays are making AJ Burnett their top priority this off season.
• Hank Blalock's $6.2M option for 2009 is expected to be picked up by the Rangers.
• The Braves have told the Padres that they will not trade Tommy Hanson for Jake Peavy.

The Boston Red Sox have plenty of directions they can go during the 2009 off season and Tony Masserotti of the Boston Globe took at look at the options:

• There have been discussions about going after Mark Teixeira.  Certainly with the way the Red Sox ended their 2008 season, this is not a surprise.  Mike Lowell's injury forced Kevin Youkilis over to third and Mark Kotsay got a lot of playing time at first.  Obviously Teixeira would be an upgrade and Youkilis would stay at third.  The team would have to find somewhere to send Lowell and the two years and $24M remaining on his contract.  Obviously Lowell's recovery from off season hip surgery will impact the Red Sox direction quite a bit.  The Sox have cleared approximately $40-60M off of their payroll since the end of 2007.
• Masserotti mentions that Jason Bay's agent, Joe Urbon, said yesterday that the Red Sox had not discussed an extension yet.
• If Teixeira is not signed, the Sox could look to Colorado to add a bat to their lineup.  The Rockies are looking to acquiring pitching and are rumored to be dangling Matt Holliday and Garrett Atkins.  Masserotti thinks that, with Ian Stewart able to take over at third base, Atkins is more available.  Additionally, Holliday is a free agent after 2009 and represented by Scott Boras.
• Regardless of what happens with Jason Varitek it is obvious that the Red Sox need to develop a long term solution to replace the aging veteran.  Masserotti mentions that the Red Sox tried to acquire Texas catcher Gerald Laird last winter and recent rumors suggest he could still be available.
• Masserotti feels that there will be no takers for Julio Lugo unless the Sox eat $12M of the $18M remaining on Lugo's contract.
• The Sox do not figure to be a major player for a big name starter.