Nathaniel Lowe, Recently DFA'd Former World Series Champion, Makes A Lot of Sense for the Red Sox

He's hitting worse than Toro, of late: 

.499 in last 26 games/101 PAs (July 11th>>>)

.617 since April 23rd (398 PAs)

1 hour ago, harmony said:

FWIW ZiPS projects Abraham Toro with a 91 wRC+ and 0.1 WAR in 26 games the rest of the season while projecting Nathaniel Lowe with a 106 wRC+ and 0.3 WAR in 39 games.

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/abraham-toro/19844/stats?position=2B/3B#dashboard

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/nathaniel-lowe/19566/stats?position=1B#dashboard

I'm not a fan of ZIPS, but I do agree Lowe has a better outlook. I think he's only 30.

Boston can squeeze him on the roster by DFAing Ali Sánchez, who is a good bet to clear waivers and no real loss if he doesn’t.  Lowe isnt much better vs RHP than Toro, but has shown a higher ceiling.  And if nothing else, Lowe does have a Gold Glove in his past.

They could also still keep Toro, just in case, if they DFA Sánchez.  A bench of Romy, Refsnyder and Toro  seems adequate.
 

But if I’m Lowe, I’d prefer the Yankees. (Are they interested?).  Goldschmidt is out for a bit, the ballpark is more conducive to lefty power bats, no Romy or equivalent to platoon with, and they have a better opportunity to start next season, since Casas is likely back and Goldschmidt potentially isn’t.

Of course the Yankees are probably just as likely to non-tender Lowe as Boston and instead pursue better/cheaper first sackers next year…

I think I’d prefer Campbell back over Lowe.

Campbell got demoted for his .664 OPS.  Does it make sense to “upgrade” to Lowe and his .665 OPS?

49 minutes ago, notin said:

I think I’d prefer Campbell back over Lowe.

Campbell got demoted for his .664 OPS.  Does it make sense to “upgrade” to Lowe and his .665 OPS?

I'd take a flier on Lowe because I think there's some potential for some offensive upside with him.  He'd probably also provide better defense than Campbell, though I'm not sure how Campbell's defense is coming along.  The risk is roughly $2.5M, which is really peanuts in payroll terms.  I'm not sure the FO would agree with that.

13 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I wouldn't claim him. I'd let him pass through waivers and work out a deal with WSH. Not paying the full price tag. 

So NOW you want to work out a deal with Washington for Lowe?  I suppose you’re finally ready to ship off Tolle for him.

I do doubt he gets claimed.  I think if he clears waivers, Washington has to release him.  I doubt they can demote him to AAA…

22 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I wouldn't claim him. I'd let him pass through waivers and work out a deal with WSH. Not paying the full price tag. 

I'm fine with that.  That's probably what the Red Sox are thinking.

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

He believe he can accept an assignment to AAA or request his release. 

I was under the assumption that MLB still had the waiver trade system, because I'm old. 

As of 2019, players may still be placed and claimed on outright waivers after the Trade Deadline, but trades aren't permitted after that date. With regards to newly acquired players, the Aug. 31 postseason roster deadline remains in effect.

Well, you were the one who brought up making a deal with Washington, so as to avoid the full price tag.

Per B-R.com, Lowe has 4.145 years of service time, so he is below the 5.000 year mark after which he could refuse assignment.  But he still can if he has ever been outrighted to the minors before.  While I doubt he has, I’m not sure.  Although I think Washington will release him and save the pro-rated portion of minimum wage on his salary…

Just now, Bellhorn04 said:

The only real difference is Lowe has some pedigree, some history of success at this level.

Toro does not.

This is true. I believe this would be a low(no pun intended)risk gamble. Lowe's owed around 2.5 million for the remainder of the season.

I say go for it.

I didn't think DFA trades were allowed anymore, after the deadline.

36 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I didn't think DFA trades were allowed anymore, after the deadline.

That is correct. If the player is put on waivers, he can be picked up by another team who simply pays his remaining salary. That's not considered a trade.

Boston brought in several players this year who have postseason experience and won rings: Bregman, Chapman, Buehler, and now May. 

Having another position player in the dugout who has contributed to a recent World Series title can't hurt.

1 hour ago, Jasonbay44 said:

He can’t be much worse than Abraham Toro has been for last few months. 

Toro had a 16 game nice stretch. That helped us, but that guy is gone.

He was a .638 career batter before 2025. To me, that is replacement level or worse.

Since that 16 game stretch, he's been way worse than replacement level.

3 minutes ago, Jasonbay44 said:

There is a reason 4 other teams dumped him. 

Yup, and I've been saying the Sox should be #5 for over a month.

(At least demote him to AAA.)

So, claiming Lowe would cost us about $2.3M. That is not all that much.

MLBTR reports that someone claiming him seems unlikely....

Another team could claim him and assume the remaining $2.33MM of his $10.3MM salary, but that’s difficult to envision. In the likelier event that he goes unclaimed, the Nationals would remain on the hook for virtually all that money. At that point, Lowe would be free to sign anywhere. A new team would pay him the prorated $760K league minimum for the final few weeks of the season.

It appears he may be ours for the taking. If we are not going to call up Campbell before Sept 1st, why not give him a try?

Place Mayer on the 60 Day IL, and nobody needs to be DFA'd.