Another rumor circulated yesterday that the Yankees were still interested in signing Mike Lowell, even if the deal to bring back Alex Rodriguez does indeed happen. They want Lowell to switch over to first base.
That won't happen, as Lowell is on record as having said he won't switch from third base to first. A TV station in Boston has reported that four teams have offered Lowell a four-year deal: New York, St. Louis, Atlanta and the LA Angels. The other teams want to make Lowell their regular third baseman. So now the ball is in Lowell's court. I'm sure Lowell has gone back to the Sox with these offers, and it will be up to Lowell and the Sox to come up with an agreement that satisifies Mike. If the Sox don't budge from their last offer, Lowell may indeed leave. But my gut feeling is that they will meet somewhere in the middle and he will stay in Boston.
It makes no sense at all for the Yankees to bring him on, as they already have Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Jason Giambi clogging up 1B, DH and LF. Damon's no longer a full-time CF, so he has to see most of the time in LF, and Hideki Matsui is coming off knee surgery and is a below-average LF, so he'll see more time at DH, especially when Giambi plays 1B. Lowell is an every day player, and Melky Cabrera is now the regular CF. So unless they unload one of them, which is not likely, bringing in Lowell isn't a very smart move for them.
Besides, what was the Yankees' Achilles Heel in 2007? It sure wasn't their lineup. They'd be better off concentrating on getting another starter now. Last time I looked, Mike Lowell can't pitch.
I've also hear that they may want to bring in Lowell "to keep him away from the Red Sox." That maybe the WORST reason to sign him. That worked out really well when they signed Johnny Damon, eh?
Mike Lowell will be playing third base for someone on Opening Day in 2008, that's for sure. I just hope it will be in Boston.
2 comments:
The Sox traded for Gagne primarily to keep him away from the Yankees, too. That's what the writers thought the Sox should do with Clemens. That always ends up bad.
Actually I thought the Red Sox got Gagne as bullpen insurance because of the fear that Pap and Okie would tire down the stretch. But whenever you make a deal for the main purpose of keeping a player away from a certain team, it almost always backfires. I always think of the Yankees making a deal to keep Ken Phelps away from the Tigers in 1988. They gave up a minor leaguer named Jay Buhner to do it. Oops.
Post a Comment