Report: Rangers Trade Max Ramirez For Red Sox' Mike Lowell
Joey Matschulat
Mike Lowell drives a run-scoring single at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, September 27th.And just when you thought this day -- one of the most tumultuous, action-filled baseball days in recent memory -- simply couldn't get any crazier, that's exactly what ended up happening.
According to FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, the Texas Rangers have reached a preliminary agreement with the Red Sox on a trade that will send 25-year-old catcher Max Ramirez to Boston in exchange for 35-year-old third baseman Mike Lowell, as well as a sizable cash subsidy that is believed to cover "nearly all" of Lowell's $12 million salary for the 2010 regular season.
The deal has not yet been finalized (and may not be for several more days), owing to the necessity of (a) the deal securing the approval of Red Sox ownership, (b) the teams exchanging medical information, a process which is not to be taken lightly given Lowell's arthroscopic hip surgery 14 months ago and Ramirez's previously debilitating wrist problems, and (c) Major League Baseball green-lighting the deal, due to the apparently large sum of money changing hands.
[Major, major note: As of 12:20 A.M. CST, Rosenthal was reporting that Lowell's hip and thumb (?!) issues could potentially derail the entire deal, with one source stating, "This thing could still blow up." The oddity in play here is that back on October 4th, ESPN.com's Pedro Gomez reported that Lowell's sore right thumb would not have precluded his post-season availability, so either the hip problems are rearing their ugly head and that's what's really jeopardizing this trade, or the thumb injury was far more serious than anyone let on.]
Assuming this trade ultimately goes through in its currently reported Ramirez-for-Lowell state and the Red Sox eat, oh, say, $8 million (as has been suggested by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News), there's cause for both optimism and concern; Lowell's a mostly known quantity, a low-variance hitter whose on-base utility and power have quietly eroded since his peak 2003-07 seasons -- excluding his flukishly abysmal 2005 campaign -- but remain useful if correctly utilized, which is to say that he's best employed as a lefty-mashing designated hitter who can spell Michael Young and Chris Davis at third and first base, respectively.
Where the risk factors into the equation is if/when he's not viewed in that light and instead amasses something around 500 plate appearances (a very real possibility), in which case he's probably good for a park-adjusted wOBA in the neighborhood of .350 (think an overall batting line of .280/.335/.460) -- nothing special from a player who is DH/1B/3B-exclusive, and certainly nothing special at a $4 million price tag. At that price (and with the loss of Ramirez), you're probably better off pursuing Fernando Tatis or another available talent of his ilk and shooting for either more upside or less expense in terms of cash and prospects.
Ramirez earned recognition as the system's 11th-best prospect in BBTiA's Fall 2009 Rangers prospect rankings two weeks ago, but multiple power-sapping wrist injuries derailed his 2009 minor league season to the umpteenth degree, and there has been long-standing concern as to whether he can handle catcher and/or first base without being a defensive liability. He's an enormous offensive talent who could certainly start putting it all together, but needs to hurry up if he's actually going to do it; plenty of players enjoy late-20s breakouts, but defensively handicapped 25-year-old "position players" who have yet to prove they can hit above AA-ball raise some fairly conspicuous warning flags, irrespective of their pedigrees.
Reader Comments (15)
I am not sure what this deal does. Does Lowell become a DH? I doubt he will replace Young unless......
I don't know what to think about this. I'm actually quite in favor of today's earlier moves. I've never actually been quite that high on Max, but I'm also not so sure about Lowell. I guess if his physical pans out, I kinda like this deal. Lowell could be a fairly effective option against those pesky LHPs.
Wow. I hate to see Max go. I think he has a big year, and a big-league career in store. That said, I see Lowell as a great fit for our window of opportunity to win right now. And Max, with --What?-- 1year left in our Minors system(?) would have needed more playing time either to warrant a permanent place on our 25-man or to raise his value to where it was last year. Mike Lowell has been very consistent. He'll be a perfect fit for DH, and the insurance we need at 3B, and possibly our 1B vs lefties, but I hope we're patient again, letting CD work through his struggles vs lefties (He's only 23!).
All in all, another smart move.
What a day!
Now tomorrow's pick-up of our needed LHP, Kroenke or Lofgren with our inherited pick from Baltimore (3rd overall) in this morning's upcoming Rule 5 Draft, plus a trade of Murph for CRoss, and who(?) for Navarro (or might we get one of the two Max-like Catchers with our own, original (21st) R5Draft pick?...
and-- Poof!-- we're done!
(Oh... And Nolan/Greenberg as owner!)
Thank you, St.Nicholas!
Play ball!
The key element of this deal that stands out to me is the amount of cash changing hands -- if Boston eats around $10-11M, then, well, it's something I can probably get behind (albeit somewhat grudgingly, since as I've outlined above Lowell is not the panacea at DH nor the offensive savior that some might think he is). If it's more like, say, $8M, and the Rangers are left on the hook for $4M, then you really have to begin wondering if Texas couldn't have done better plucking a lefty-mashing piece off the market for around the same amount (or even less) and holding onto MaxRam.
And, well, MaxRam has some things working against him (lack of offensive performance above AA-ball, age, injuries, defensive limitations), but that's still a top-15 "catching" prospect in a very loaded system that you could have conceivably packaged with other players down the line to get something even better ... particularly if he kicks off the '10 season with a strong rebound out of the gates, which seems like a fairly plausible outcome.
As things currently stand, I'm rather ambivalent about this deal; I suppose you could say that the second key element to this deal is how Washington elects to use Lowell, and whether he's rendered useful by being limited to 350-400 PA, or rendered average with 500 PA, or rendered below average with 600 PA.
You might recall that one of the big knocks against Washington is how he is believed to favor veteran players and consequently give them more playing time than they objectively warrant ... I would say that if he can't be trusted to correctly apportion playing time and ensure that Lowell doesn't end up detracting from the offense in the grand scheme of things, then that's probably something that needs to be kept in mind in the Arlington offices when the time comes around to discuss a possible post-'10 contract extension.
Good points all.
As of 2:30 a.m. CST, here's what we know via Twitter:
Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports: "sox and rangers have framework of deal, lowell for ramirez, agree to continue talks. Bradley probably not an option for rangers."
Jon Heyman, SI.com: "rangers, red sox in talks. lowell for max ramiez and cash. both sides still mulling." ... "#rangers have good shot at lowell. even if they pass, they wont revisit milton bradley, limiting dwindling #cubs options."
It may be that I end up waking up in the morning and the deal has totally collapsed. Oh well. Maybe we'll finaly get that Saltalamacchia-for-Buchholz deal that we've pining for since last winter.
Who says JD is finished yet? Who says Lowell ever plays a game as a Ranger? If Boston is eating part of the salary then Lowell may be a part in another trade for an as yet unsuspected deal.
Just thinking out loud: MaxRam for Lowell and cash becomes Lowell and prospect for an established catcher. Rangers improve and get to keep the cash. The Rangers then use the cash gained in the Lowell deal to sign Ben Sheets. Suddenly the Rangers are the favorite to win the division and have LOWERED their payroll at the same time. We've seen stranger thing already today.
If not traded then who is to say that they don't ask him to play left field in a platoon with Murphy as well as DH? can he play the outfield?
"Can he play the outfield?"
In the sense that he has free use of his two legs and can catch fly balls, yeah. Otherwise, not really.
Considering our uncertain catching situation, and what the Rangers got for him, I don't see trading Ramirez as a good move. I watched him play at the Juice Box a couple of years ago, and he hit a line drive homer off the left field facade below the railroad tracks! The uncertainly of Lowell's health also calls this deal into question.
Like the Harden exchange for Millwood. Don't like the Lowell deal.
Fans like to develop loyalties to players, etc. You can't bring in an old guy with a long history other clubs and expect the fans to love it. I've been keeping up with MaxRam every since he came to us; I think he will eventually be a breakout hitter, maybe even next year.
I suspect that the Rangers start Salty and acquire a back up catcher moving TT back to AAA which really leaves no room for MaxRam.
Further, Lowell could possibly (not probably) end up as a Type B player generating a sandwich pick for 2011.
All in all, a low risk exchange.
However, with Joey my biggest concern is how Wash uses him, but that is a totally different issue.
Frankly, I'm tickled pink. A steady veteran righty bat is what the Rangers needed. FWIW, Lowell says his hip is better than it has been in a long time.
Max has really battled with injuries the last year, and has shown real deficiencies with his glove. He's got real pop in his bat, no doubt, but he was buried behind two other young catchers on the Rangers depth chart (who didn't hit AT ALL), and still couldn't pass them.
I think this is a win-win, frankly. We got a proven righty bat who could feasibly really enjoy hitting in Arlington. They get a good prospect who (if he can figure it out) will 'max' out at a good major league hitter with somewhat below average defensive skills at 1st.
I like the Lowell deal- what's the matter with a guy that is very likely to hit .280s or more, 20 homers, and rarely strikes out?
AND you get another team to pay the bulk of his salary? All for someone who is basically blocked by more established players in Texas. He's wasn't going to ever play 1b for us- with Smoak and CD, and there's still people ahead of him at catcher.
A low risk, decent return deal.
woah cliff! Rangers are the favorites in the AL West? hey im excited about the Rangers as much as anyone but i think that's a bit of a stretch here. our rotation is nowhere near set nor experienced. the couple who were here rather consistently last season (Hunter, Feldman) came out of nowhere and will likely not repeat their performances this season. i hope they do, but it's asking too much to assume so.
i like all of these dealings that have taken place. I'm over MaxRam. he's 27 now and things are getting crowded. goofing around w/ a 27 yr old C/DH/?? can be on someone else watch. though i'd like to get another DH/3B/1B salty vet w/ a couple years left on a contract, i can live with this one.
"I like the Lowell deal- what's the matter with a guy that is very likely to hit .280s or more, 20 homers, and rarely strikes out?"
I don't know that the fact that he doesn't strike out that much really adds anything to his value -- in fact, if you drill down into the plate discipline statistics a little bit, you'll find that his 2009 O-Swing % (percentage of pitches outside of the strike zone that are swung at) was a career-high 26.6 percent, higher than the major league average.
What does that mean? Well, it could be a one-year blip, or it could be indicative of slow-decaying bat speed that's forcing him to take more chances on pitches that he would have refrained from swinging at in years past. I don't know, but it's something that's relevant in the context of this deal and one of the pieces that fits into the talent evaluation puzzle.