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A funny thing happened on the way to the Texas Rangers for Mike Lowell. He learned he has a torn ligament in his thumb, putting the kibosh on the trade that would have sent him and some cash from Boston to Texas for catcher Max Ramirez. The dissolution of the deal raises serious questions for each team going forward. The Red Sox have to figure out what to do with Lowell now that he's become an even bigger health risk entering the 2010 season. They were moving him to open up time at first base for Casey Kotchman and Victor Martinez (or to sign Adrian Beltre or trade for Adrian Gonzalez depending on your sources), largely because his diminished health kept him out of the lineup and clearly affected his defense last summer.
With Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz, there doesn't appear to be a way to keep Lowell in the Boston lineup regularly so another trade remains possible. Lowell's defensive decline makes it very hard for the team to seriously consider going with him as their everyday third baseman, and if they want to clear any money to use for other moves Lowell is the guy who has to be sent packing.
The problem with that, of course, is that any team looking to acquire Lowell would have to contend with the chance that he's not going to hold up over a whole season, even in the designated hitter role he was slated to play with the Rangers. The Sox' willingness to eat $9 million of his $12 million contract would help get a trade done, but Lowell's forthcoming surgery and two-month rehab make it hard to see anything getting done until spring training.
As for the Rangers, now they need to figure out who will fill the DH role for them next season. They could use a righty bat with power and there are options on the open market. Jermaine Dye and Vladimir Guerrero both come to mind, but would they wind up costing less than the $3 million price tag for Lowell? It isn't out of the realm of possibility that they'd wait to revisit this deal down the road, especially since the Rangers are being cost-conscious this offseason.
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