Poll: If Lowell doesn't win the 2007 WS MVP, is he a Red Sox today?

[TheKilo]

Figured this would be an interesting topic for discussion.

 

I think Lowell is a break in the practices this FO has set out to achieve - namely not giving multi year contracts to older, more injury prone players. When Lowell won the 2007 WS MVP, in the wake of ARod opting out, it seemed the decision was made for the FO as to who their 3B would be in 2007.

 

I think the FO may have let the emotions of the fans dictate this signing.

 

What say you?

[Dojji]

There isn't a lot out there for 3B's. Lowell was just about the best out there at the time he signed the deal.

 

This is another thinly-veiled "we should have signed Teixeira" thread.

[CrespoBlows]

I disagree

 

They got him for three years, which I believe got the deal done. He was coming off a good 2006 season, and an outstanding 2007 season. I don't believe it was a stretch to assume that Lowell would at least be average for the duration of the contract. I believe he had his OPS within .05 of .900 as late as July 5th of last year. His hip went out, and he started to decline.

[CrespoBlows]

 

This is another thinly-veiled "we should have signed Teixeira" thread.

 

Stop hijacking the thread.

[Dojji]

Unless someone shows me who was supposed to play third (or first if you want to play that game) in 2008 then signing Lowell was a necessity.

[Dojji]

Stop hijacking the thread.

 

Yeah, that's a thread hijack, just like Kilo's not particularly well disguised jab at me in the poll is. Kilo's hijacking his own thread, I'm just refusing to let him get away with it.

 

For the record, A-Rod was never even a free agent. He re-signed before the team lost exclusive rights to negotiate with him.

[yankees228]

I think this is more like a Kilo doesn't think Lowell is a good baseball player and the Red Sox shouldn't have re-signed him thread...

[CrespoBlows]

Yeah' date=' that's a thread hijack, just like Kilo's not particularly well disguised jab at me in the poll is. Kilo's hijacking his own thread, I'm just refusing to let him get away with it.[/quote']

 

Shut the f*** up. He mentions nothing about Teixeria, and the jabs at popular baseball slogans has been a feature of Kilo's posts long before you got here. Your paranoid personality borders on disorder status. Go seek a therapist.

 

Let us discuss the question that was asked.

[TheKilo]

It's a valid question, sir.

 

And face facts - not signing Lowell could have meant the Sox would have been bigger players for Teixeira.

 

Or even another big 1B - Youkilis could have moved to third.

[CrespoBlows]

The Red Sox could have swung a trade to fill the hole vacated by Lowell had he left. They were prepared to deal numerous prospects to the Twins for Santana. Would it have been a stretch to see them pursue a young CIF?

[Dojji]

The Red Sox could have swung a trade to fill the hole vacated by Lowell had he left. They were prepared to deal numerous prospects to the Twins for Santana. Would it have been a stretch to see them pursue a young CIF?

 

THe only 3B that was traded during that time was Scott Rolen. No thank you.

 

In the '07-'08 offseason the Mariners were deluding themselves into thinking they were contenders, so Beltre's out.

 

So who is the guy you think they could have gotten? About the only GOOD idea I can think of is a Blalock-Bailey platoon with Youks making it work. And that's no less chancy than Lowell and his good Boston track record.

[CrespoBlows]

THe only 3B that was traded during that time was Scott Rolen. No thank you.

 

In the '07-'08 offseason the Mariners were deluding themselves into thinking they were contenders, so Beltre's out.

 

So who is the guy you think they could have gotten? About the only GOOD idea I can think of is a Blalock-Bailey platoon with Youks making it work. And that's no less chancy than Lowell and his good Boston track record.

 

Troy Glaus?

[msubulldogs21]

I think the FO may have let the emotions of the fans dictate this signing.

 

I think that's a fair assessment given that most if not all Sox fans wanted to bring him back. There was a lot of emotional attachment to him after that wicked October he had. The problem is, I don't think many expected him to have a bad hip and fall off the face of the planet and turn into what he is right now. It's not like you could've predicted that. But, had we not re-signed Lowell, I'm sure we could've come up with a viable solution at 1B/3B. Not sure what that would've been, but there's no doubt in my mind we would come up with a quality player somehow.

[Dojji]

Troy Glaus?

 

A better idea than it looked like at the time, I'll admit that. Glaus looked like the injury prone one at the end of 2007. In retrospect it worked out well for St. Louis. At the time, Glaus only played 115 games in '07 and wasn't much of a defender.

 

Question though: Would the Jays really have dealt in division?

[CrespoBlows]

I didn't want the Red Sox to sign Lowell, but I don't remember complaining about it. I figured he would have been OK for a couple more years. His torn hip labrum was a surprise.

[example1]

It's a valid question, sir.

 

And face facts - not signing Lowell could have meant the Sox would have been bigger players for Teixeira.

 

Or even another big 1B - Youkilis could have moved to third.

 

I think you could look back at our posts at the time, and see that most weren't advocating him being signed because he was 07 WS MVP, but because he was the best option at 3B available. I for one wasn't excited about the signing, but aside from A-Rod I don't remember anyone very impressive being available. There was discussion about Helton for awhile (no thanks).

 

So, while most haven't really been too excited about Lowell, there haven't been many options. Teixeira--whether you are raising the point or Dojji is just being defensive--naturally comes up. Teixeira would have been a better option, certainly, but he wasn't available until this year, when Lowell and Youkilis both offered viable alternatives .

[BSN07]

I see where your coming from Kilo. But given who else was available, Lowell seemed like the better signing at the time.

 

But yes the Sox FO seemed to bend a little more for him after his WS MVP performance. But that was then this is now, I'd give him a little more time before casting him aside.

[BoSox21]

they gave him a 3-year extension cause of how he performed for a four-game stretch? Id say the career year he had had a bit more to do with it...

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

I do rag on Theo sometimes when he makes (in my mind) a questionable move, but I would hope that he's smart enough to take Lowell over A-Rod regardless of what happens in 10/2007.

[BoSox21]

See, the poll question promotes the debate of re-signing Lowell vs. persuing A-Rod but since hindsight is being used in either POV, the A-Rod contract has a very real possibility of being far more of a disaster than the Lowell deal.

 

A-Rod is dealing with the same injury Lowell had, may very well be not taking the best course of action as far as treatment and isn't exactly a spring chicken anymore himself. Worse case scenario, if Lowell has a disastrous year, the Sox could just eat the remaining year on his contract.

 

Who the hell knows what the Yankees are gonna get out of A-Rod going forward, Cashman has already gone on record expressing a bit of regret in doing the deal.

[Dojji]

Some people seem to be failing the math test. Lowell's only a year or so older than A-Rod (Mikey only LOOKS like he's 70 years old, in reality he's 35) and as BoSox said, is signed to a much less hideous deal than A-Rod. If we needed to pay for a guy the Lowell deal wasn't stopping us. If we'd matched prices with A-Rod, THAT would have stopped us.

 

I dismissed the A-Rod thing offhand because only a total lack of intracranial activity would have suggested it as a real option. No way was Theo paying that much money for one guy, even a guy as talented as A-Rod.

 

That said, if we get our paws back on Hanley somehow, he will probably find a nice little extension in his inbox that would take him well into 8 digits AAV. But that's an entirely different situation because Hanley is a great deal younger and has a far greater chance of being worth that kind of contract at the end of a 7 year extension.

[BoSox21]

That said, if we get our paws back on Hanley somehow, he will probably find a nice little extension in his inbox that would take him well into 8 digits AAV.

 

He's in the first year of a 6-year, $70 million deal