|
|
| 13th November, 2007 - 4:16 pm | Christopher Reina/RealGM -
Mike Lowell
Age: 33
Position 3B
2007 Salary: $9 million
Awards: Four-time All-Star (2002, 2003, 2004, 2007), 2007 World Series MVP, 2005 NL Gold Glove
Potential Destinations: Red Sox, Yankees, Phillies, Angels, Dodgers
In the Josh Beckett/Hanley Ramirez trade, Lowell was a throw-in after hitting .236 with eight homeruns in his final season in Florida. But after a career year in 2007 where he capped the season as the World Series MVP he will be a prized commodity on the free agent market.
Is Lowell a product of Fenway Park and a potent Boston offense or can he replicate his production elsewhere?
Power
Lowell hit 14 of his 21 homeruns at Fenway Park last season. His slugging percentage was .575 versus .428 on the road.
But Lowell was better on the road in 2006, his first season with Boston. He had a .514 slugging percentage, while at Fenway it was just .436.
Lowell has averaged 19 homeruns per season over the past four years, which puts him 15th amongst third basemen, behind players like Casey Blake, Morgan Ensberg and Pedro Feliz. Lowell will likely range from 15 to 25 homeruns over the next four seasons.
Average
Like with his power, Lowell hit .373 at Fenway Park while hitting .276 in away games in 2007. And like his power again, in 2006, Lowell was better on the road (.310 vs. .260).
Over the past four seasons, Lowell has a batting average of .286.
Speed
Lowell has never been known for his speed, stealing just 26 bases for his career, but he is a very smart runner, especially on situations where he can take an extra base.
Defense
Lowell is one of the better defensive third basemen in the MLB, but he struggled a little bit in 2007. He had a fielding percentage of .961 (15 errors), which was easily the worst of his career. Lowell wasn’t that bad and he had single-digit error totals in each of the previous four seasons. He will remain an above average defensive player for the length of this contract.
Lowell’s Market
Lowell couldn’t have possibly found a better time to become a free agent.
He is coming off a career season and a terrific October in which he had a 1.300 OPS in the World Series and a .894 OPS in the ALCS.
Lowell is beloved in Boston and the Yankees see him as an ideal intangible player to take them out of the Alex Rodriguez-era.
The Red Sox have a history of keeping contract lengths for players of his age to three years or less, so will they make an exception for Lowell? Their strategy appears to be different now than the winter following their 2004 World Series when they let Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe leave and the following winter when they let Johnny Damon and Kevin Millar leave. This is the franchise that paid a fortune for Daisuke Matsuzaka and J.D. Drew with mixed results. [READ] |
|
|
Get Boston Tickets
