Lowell now available; should Yanks chase?
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- November
- 13
The Globe says there is no deal for Mike Lowell with Boston. Not yet anyway. He wants four years.
Now he’s on the market and a certain team in the Boogie Down needs a third baseman. But the Yankees should be careful of Lowell.
Home in 2007: .373/.418/.575
Away in 2007: .276/.339/.428
Career at Yankee Stadium: .278/.330/.456 (90 ABs)
This is guy is one of the finest people in all of baseball. I’ve known him for 11 years and he’s a great guy. But this is also a guy who went .236/.298/.360 for Florida in 2005. Playing at Fenway Park in that lineup revitalized him.
The Yankees need a third baseman and taking him would weaken Boston. But a four-year deal for him would be a reach.
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Peter Abraham
NO, SAY NO TO LOWELL !!!!
How should I put this…*NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
Let the red stockings have him. He IS a great guy but this year will not be repeated.
MAYBE Lowell is worth signing a contract three years with an option thrown in for a fourth. Lowell is a consummate professional, decent hitter, very good fielder, but he has those lower numbers away from Fenway. If it was three years with the option for 2011, maybe. If it is for four years guaranteed, Cashman should pass.
Worry about Mo and Molie first.
Offer Lowell three years and a team option, if he no likey, we will find someone else. I’m, of course, terribly easy to satisfy and will be fine with Wilson…
His numbers away from Fenway aren’t terrible. They’re just not as monstrous as his Fenway numbers which are what will get him a lot of money. He is a great fielder for what it’s worth.
I think a trade for Miguel Tejada makes more sense than signing Mike Lowell for 4 years.
Tejada only has 2 years left on his current deal and the cost in players in return should be reasonable.
Lowell uses the Green Monster to his advantage and wouldn’t have anywhere near the kind of production playing half of his games at Yankee Stadium.
No thanks on Lowell.
A big no, never, absolutely not to Lowell.
Tejada isn’t coming cheaply.
The Yankees should have held firm on a fourth year to Posada and a third year to Rivera the way the Sox are with Lowell.
Why is everyone so against Mike Lowell?
Just because he’s from the red sox doesn’t mean we shouldn’t sign him
Damon played for the Red Sox, and regardless of what you guys think, it paid off with his monster season in ‘06 and a very good second half in 07. Roger Clemens played for the Red Sox. Remember him? Doug Mientkiewicz played for the Red Sox. He also performed quite well. Wade Boggs played for the sox. Babe Ruth was a Red Sox player.
He’s decent. Theres no way I’d give him 4yrs 56 mil. No way in hell. But 3 yrs 38 or 4 years 48, why not. 4th year should be an option, though. He’s a talented player with very good work ethic and it’s not like he’s pushing 40.
No Lowell. Please no. I don’t want any other ex Red Sox coming off a championship looking for a big pay day.
Losing the 1st round compensation pick to Boston would be double whammy.
I would prefer that the Yankees do not pursue Lowell. I’d rather just use someone from within the organization.
Lowell may be of some help to NYY, but, if Boston signs him, he’ll help them, but, not as much as signing Rodriguez would. If they sign Lowell, there’s only a slim chance that they’s sign Rodriguez.
if lowell leaves the red sox they will go hard after a-rod. count on it.
I disagrre with everyone Lowell is a worker a great third baseman and a great contact hitter. He would be very productive for the Yankees sign him now.
Yeah he looked like a real great guy when he elbowed Robby Canoe then said sarcastically “I learned that in the Yankees farm system.”
No thanks.
brandon- can you help me out? I’m not sure what you mean about blockquote….. thanks
NO HE’S NOT CHECK HIS SPLITS
4 yrs $52 million??!! That hurts the heart. No Lowell.
Sunny’s text link
If losing Lowell means that Boston will sign A-Rod, then no, that would not hurt them at all. They would even swap draft picks with the Yankees in that case, and get a slightly better pick in the first round of the draft.
Platoon Betemit with Ensberg.
Tejada can be had for Tabata/Horne I believe.
It wouldn’t weaken the Red Sox if they ended up signing ARod to replace him.
Pass - that road OBP is totally craptacular.
This is an easy one…No.
a hell to da no on that proposal
Carmine,
You summed it up perfectly. I’m in favor of going after Lowell. 2005 looks to be an anomoly. He’s been good every year and I’ve seen enough now to say he’s a good hitter. He won’t be as great at the Stadium as opposed to Fenway, but he’ll still be a solid enough player. Getting him means we don’t need to trade any of the three big starters and even if we lose draft picks, we’ll get them back for A-Rod. Lowell’s only going to be 34, so 4 years is reasonable imo.
they are not trading tabata for Tejada.. that is suicide…
tejeda for lower minor league talent is fine…..
Exactly. which will happen if it hasn’t happened already.
Tejada wouldn’t cost Horne or Tabata, let alone both.
what part of Lowell isn’t that good don’t people understand, a pull hitter getting his hits off a green wall that is pulled in, can we atleast wait on the steroid report before investing the bank on someone not even worth that price if he’s not on it
brandon- thanks
no problem JC
Which is why you don’t want Tejada.
The Yankees could probably get Scott Rolen in a salary dump type of a trade like the way they acquired Bobby Abreu. The guy has 3 years and 36 million left on the contract. If the yankees throw in some low minor league talent the Cards will probably be more than willing to give that contract to the Yanks. Rolen and LaRussa hate each other so I’m sure it’s something that could make sense for the cards. And they are in the NL so they probably think they could use a Spiezio/Cairo combo for 3B if they lose Rolen. Rolen has had some surgeries, but he was great as recently as 2006, and had some trmeendous years prior to that. He is even younger than Matsui and Damon and can field well too. This way you don’t lose first round draft picks (like for Lowell) or highly touted minor leaguers (like for Cabrera/Tejada). The Yankees should not be afraid to abuse their main resource: money. It’s risky since Rolen has been hurt a lot lately. But worst case scenario is that Betemit plays everyday if Rolen gets injured. Betemit is decent, he just struggles against lefties. And in the best case Rolen puts up a good year and Betemit can even bolster the hitting side of the first base platoon then since he is a better hitter than Phillips and Duncan.
There’s a rumor floating around the internet tonight and being discussed in the PSD forums of a potential deal w/ the pirates to acquire Freddy Sanchez and Damaso Marte. There are three theories as to what they would do w/ Sanchez..
1.) Play him at third and he fills the hole there.
2.) Play him at second base and move Cano to third.
3.) Play him at second base and send Cano to Minnesota in a Santana deal.
It’s anyones guess at this point. Who knows what the yankees would give up. Probably not too much. Here’s the link if you wanna check it out…
http://www.prosportsdaily.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160892
How many old players do you want?
Rolen 33 3 years
Damon 34 2 years
Matsui 34 2 years
Jeter 34 3 years
Posada 37 4 years
That’s way too many.
There’s also speculation that they could be acquiring Sanchez to trade him in another deal
Aside from Boston, what teams are interested in Lowell?
Does he hit well, anywhere besides Fenway?
For what?
whoa-
Adding Rolen could attract new sponsors: AARP and the Prune council.
In the PSD forums they were saying one article said Horne, Bruney, and Reggie Corona for Marte & Sanchez
2 tier prospects like Marquez, Calzado, Clippard
Lowell is older than Rolen. Crede sucks. Rolen is better than Betemit. The Yankees don’t have any minor league third base prospects. Next year’s best free agent third baseman are likely to be Chipper, Glaus, Crede, and Ensberg. Chipper is old and will never go to NY. Glaus has the steroid cloud over his head, as well as injuries and he’s a worse fielder than Rolen. Crede sucks. Rolen is better than Ensberg.
3 years of Rolen isn’t that bad since the Yankees have no better way to fill that gap over the next 3 years without trading high talent or signing Lowell.
atleast Horne would have to go in that deal
agree…i would be happy with rolen given the rest of the options out there
Can we just stop all this craziness and just bring back Arod and not have to worry bout dealing top prospects.
I’d go Freddy Sanchez if it’s true
Idk what I think of it. Sanchez is a solid bat, he’s 30. In 2006 he hit .344 I believe, yet his OBP was still just .378. THis past year he hit .304 w/ .343 obp. Basically cano type numbers the last few years w/ less power. He’s a righty bat which is needed. Marte is a really good lefty reliever which is something we need. He’d be a solid setup piece to Mo. It would suck to give up Horne, but it’s not like he’s Joba, Phil, or kennedy
yankees need rebuild the team(some experienced plus some young players),therefore do not sign old players.Here is my preference:Miguel Cabrera instead of Lowell,Scott Kazmir(Young, good staff and most important part is he can beat Bosox) instead of Santana.Just using minor league prospect do not using 40 roster trade for them.
It was mentioned that Lowell’s stats for Florida in 2005 were .236/.298/.360. When looking at those stats it certainly is true that he revitalized himself in Boston. At the same it should be noted that Lowell’s batting average in 2005 was the lowest of his major league career. Just the year before (2004) in Florida his stats were a very respectable .293/.365/.505. The wall at Fenway has probably contributed to his stats, but he had some good years at Florida too.
I’d go with Sanchez too I guess. We’d have a lot less power than we’ve had the past several years, but if you think about it what has that power gotten us? When we won all those championships the top power guys were Bernie and Tino 25-30 HRs and guys like O’Neill w/ 20 HRs, but they hit when it counted and they didn’t just wait for the longball. We may have less power next year, but with better pitching and guys who put innings together rather than just wait for the long ball.
The Yankees made the mistake of giving Damon a 4 year contract, don’t repeat that mistake by giving Lowell a 4(or 5) year contract.
Marcos Vechionacci is kickign butt in the VWL and already has a major league glove. He’s start this year at AA and could be ready for 3B in 2009.
I’d rather take my chances with Betemit….If he were to play eveyday , he projects to a 30 homerun guy….He’s young, switch hits, and he’s cheap……Need to get young..If Tejada for Farnsworth and parts doesn’t pan out then stay with Wilson for now…..No Lowell please….
“they hit when it counted and they didn’t just wait for the longball”
I hate this meaningless cliche so much. Tell me exactly how Bernie Williams hitting a homerun in 1999 is any different from Giambi hitting a homerun in 2003. Does Bernie not “wait for it” but Giambi does “wait for it”? What the hell does that even mean?
The 1996-2001 teams hit a crapload of homers in the playoffs. Not just “when it counted”
Think about this: if Wang/Mussina kept the score to within 1 or 2 runs in game 4, then Abreu and ARod might be heroes right now for hitting homeruns that tied the game. Instead they are considered “meaningless” homeruns.
Now let’s flashback to 2001. Kim gives up game-tying homers to brosius and Tino in Games 5 and 4. Everyone remembers this and loves those guys for it. The yankees were only losing by 2 runs at the time. If they were losing by 4 or 5 runs, like in game 4 this year, nobody would give a crap about those homeruns.
The pitching is the biggest difference between these recent Yankee playoff teams and the ones from 1996 to 2001. The pitching in those years put the hitters in the right situation to hit homeruns “when it counts” because the scores were always close so it “always counted”. As opposed to now, when we have 2 or 3 terrible starts in a 5 game series every single year. Not even manny/Ortiz would slug their ways out of the bad Yankee pitching in recent Octobers.
This is a ploy to drive up the price for the Sox.
I hope it works.
Our payroll just took a hit so it’s time to hit back.
I’d love any type of deal to get Sanchez as long as they didnt give up a whole lot.
This is where the Eric Duncan failure really starts to hurt. This could have been the time for Duncan to step up and shine. Unfortunately, he has proven himself to be less than adequate. Too bad.
I don’t hate this Sanchez/Marte rumor, mostly because I like adding Marte.
If Cashman made that move, I don’t think he’s done dealing and if I were Cano, I’d be worried about moving to Minnesota.
Sanchez doesn’t have legit HR power, but the guy is good for 40-50+ doubles a season and doesn’t strike out a lot. He’s that line drive contact hitter this lineup has been lacking at times.
It’s an interesting deal if it comes to pass. Shows Cashman is thinking outside the box.
I’ll say this, if he made that deal and traded Cano for Johan and we had Sanchez at 2b, it wouldn’t be the end of the world having a .300 hitting 2b’s machine playing 2b.
It’s obvious there aren’t too many 3b’s out here on the market…and let’s face it folks, no matter who we get…let’s just write it off as a loss of productivity at that position. So where do we go? Do we invite Eric Duncan to Spring training to look him over. Sure we do. Can the mended Andy Phillips play third base? Anybodys guess. Mike Lowell wants a 4-year deal. I’m sure it would give him great personal pleasure to come back to a team he was with in the early stages of his career. The sight of that 1st cashed check with the Steinbrenner effigy anywhere on it would be a fireplace mantle frame-job in the Lowell’s dwelling…that you could be sure of. Here is who is out there real quick…3b’s who have filed for free-agency…Jeff Cirillo, Aaron Boone, Mike Lamb, Russ Branyan, Pedro Feliz, and Tony Batista….and of course…A-Rod. Who do you want? Should we dump 13 million a year on Lowell or put the monies to better use? as I’ve said earlier, no matter WHAT we do…we lose production at that spot.
Lamb is the best of that bunch. And Betemit is better than all of those other guys.
Not counting A-Rod, of course.
“When we won all those championships the top power guys were Bernie and Tino 25-30 HRs and guys like O’Neill w/ 20 HRs, but they hit when it counted and they didn’t just wait for the longball.”
Um, back in those days, it’s true the Yankees didn’t have any 40 homer guys, but to say they didn’t have power or didn’t rely on power is one step shy of mental retardation. The 1998 Yankees hit 207 homers…the 2007 Yankees, including FIFTY FOUR from one player, hit 201. Think about that. The problem wasn’t an over-reliance on the long ball, it was an over reliance on ONE PLAYER hittingthe long ball. Basically, outside of A-Rod the team had no power. Those great teams from the late 90s never had a 40 homer guy, but they use to have like 8 people on the team with 15 or more. In fact, the 1998 Yankees had TEN PLAYERS with double digit homers, and eight players with over 17.
”
Our payroll just took a hit so it’s time to hit back.”
Tbe payroll took a $1 million “hit.” Jeez, that barely accounts for inflation.
If anyone thinks he is just a “great hitter” please explain to everyone why his home/road splits don’t mean much.
I am always leary of pulling in the “wretched refuse” from the Red Sox, but this is not Mike Meyers being cast off. The best thing about Lowell is that he won’t cost any prospects. So you can look at his acquisition as a plus-1 vs the other appealing options(Crede, Cabrera, Tejada). It will cost young players to get another solid 3B.
Offensively am I gonna be excited about .275 BA, 15HRs from a Corner infielder? He can probably get me 100 RBI’s in the 5 spot though.
If the other options are only slightly better offensively and would come via trade of Melky/Kennedy, then Lowell is the guy. Hate to go to 4 years, but if it lets me keep Kennedy and Melky Cabrera its gotta receive strong consideration.
Miguel Cabrera is the only one that makes Lowell a moot point.
johnnystorm02blog:
You said he wouldn’t cost any prospects. He would cost us our first round pick. If we signed him instead of the Sox, we would be giving up our first round pick and they would have a sandwich pick. Last time we got that, we got Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain (for Tom Gordon).
Taylor home road splits can be misleading. It rare a hitter leaves a certain park and cant hit anymore. It could hugely effect their power though and I’m not advocating getting Lowell but if we do he might still hit better at home because hes more comfortable their. 2 years ago Alfonso Soriano hit nothing on the road and murdered the ball at home in Washington. That idiot Jon Heyman now with SI would tell anyone who listen that it meant if he signed somewhere else he wouldn’t hit at all. After years of proving to be good hitter in New York and Texas. Only one year and he was calling people who wanted him “stupid”. The Rockies hitters leave Colorado with people saying they cant hit out of Colorado but they always do. Lowell’s’ always been a good hitter. Admittedly in Fenway hes been great but the idea that he wont be good somewhere else overlooks that he was a good hitter in a huge park in Florida. That he didn’t kill the ball at Yankee Stadium overlooks that while we might not have had the best pitching in the world we didn’t have the worst
Taylor,
that’s true, but we could potentially get those draft picks “back” from the team that signs Arod (if it ends up being Boston or Anaheim or another team in the bottom 15 of the first round.
Lowell had a pretty good 2007 season, but let’s not forget he was playing for what will most likely be the last contract of his career, and as we’ve seen with our former third baseman, that can be an incredibly powerful incentive to produce.
Next year he’ll be trying to do something that, statistically doesn’t happen very often; reproduce a career year after being awarded a large contract, and he’ll be thirty-four (an age when,in general, players start to decline). As Peter mentioned, even if we get a decent year from him next year, what will we do for the next three?
If the Yankees sign Lowell to a 4 year deal after signing Posada to a 4 year deal then Cashman should be fired.
I wouldn’t get Lowell. Not for those years and to forfeit a draft pick is absurd.
I would look at:
Rolen
Tejeda
Either of those guys can hit cleanup and that is what we need.
I would not be opposed to signing Andruw Jones to fill the void on a short term deal 3 years at the max.
PLEASE!!!! STEP AWAY FROM THE THIRD BASEMAN
NO LOWELL. HE WILL COME TO THE YANKEES AND BECOME THAT THROWIN HE WAS IN THE MARLINS/SOX DEAL.
Double edged sword here.
We have to build a better defense to support our young staff including Wang who throws grounders all day. Lowell gives tough ABs and is super in the clutch.
I say do it but only for 3 years. It’ll keep Robby at 2b too. Better to give up the comp pick than established studs for Fat Miggy.
No way, he will not hit well in Yankee Stadium.
The best possible 3rd base solutions:
1. Freddy Sanchez along with Damaso Marte. It solves 3rd base and lefthanded relief problems. Offer Karstens, DeSalvo, Clippard and/or Bruney plus Brett Gardner.
2. Miguel Tejada for Farnsworth, DeSalvo, and Gardner.
3. Scott Rolen for 2nd tier pitchers which St. Louis needs.
4. Forget Lowell. No point in surrendering draft picks.
Isn’t Wilson Betemit the starting third baseman for the Yankees in 2008?
If not, he should be.
Why would anyone want Lowell??? He’s already been around that track.
Let’s get real here.
I’ve always supported Brian Cashman but signing Lowell would have me hoping that someone else is the GM next year.
We need to take the Sox approach and stop giving these guys extra years. Haven’t we learned with these big contracts to declining players. I can’t see lowell being a good fit here at all.
No to Lowell.
Pete, please forward this entire thread to Cashman’s inbox.
I like Lowell, my dad and I met him back when he was with the Yankees in Tampa some years ago. I think he would have been a good 3rd baseman for them but it wasn’t meant to be. He has a solid golve and a workman attitude and I believe that if his career kept him in NY, he would have a Jeter-like popularity with the fans.
But none of that makes any difference now. His swing is tailor made to take advantage of the bandbox in boston and his numbers in real stadiums aren’t that good.
It would be a mistake for him to do anything but stay in boston and it would be a bigger mistake for the Yankees to sign him to anything longer than a 2 year deal.
This team needs to look forward, not backwards.
Vinny,
I’m sure those teams are just lining up to trade decent MLB players for Triple A and Double A trash. The best player you have us giving up in any of those proposals is Kyle Farnsworth!
No thanks to Lowell at anything more than 3 years $10m a year (which I realize is a lot less than he is likely to get). I really don’t want to ditch our first round pick (especially to the Sox). There seem to be a lot of options other than Lowell that won’t require us to give up a pick or anything useful from the farm. Frankly I would be happy going with Betemit and signing a platoon partner that has good numbers against lefties — it would be even better if he could play first base as well. Here is hoping we get younger at third not older…
I also have a small amount of hope that Arod finds religion and confesses the error of his way and professes his true desire to be a Yankee. I really fear that he ends up realizing that Boras overvalued him and that the Yanks were going to offer him the most money anyway — I really hope the Yankees take it extremely slow on the third base situation until Arod’s situation is resolved.
No to Mike Lowell
He can’t hit anywhere but at Fenway using the green monsta as a backboard
Sorry — great guy maybe always should have been a Yankee but age and lack of offense are wrong for the Yanees now
People doubt the lack of Offense - construct a hit chart for Fenway and take alook at the singles and oubles he got on fly balls off the wall
And drop the Joe Crede idea too - old, hurt (maybe repaired but not 23 anymore why take the chance) oh — and can’t hit — one aberrant season
Tejada would be a great replacement at 3b.
Think out of the box.
The only way you weaken Boston is getting Beckett or Papelbon.
Whoever we sign at 3B there’s always some risks involved. If it’s Cabrera the risk is he could stay fat and one of the kids we traded for him ends up having a 19 win season. If it’s Lowell he may not adjust to yankees stadium and we’re stuck with his away stats at $15mil a yr for 4 years until he’s 38. If the Sox signs Arod there’s huge risk for them too. I think taking a chance on Betemit is not as bad as some might think. It’s still a last resort but to me that’s better calculated risk than to sign Lowell at 4/60mil.
Mike Lowell is the best option available to the Yankees for their 3B opening. He has a great glove, fine blue collar team- oriented attitude, is a clutch hitter, bats righty and is a contact hitter - in the mold of the 1996-2000 type.
And he will only cost NY a draft pick, which will be returned with the Team that signs ARod.
Yes, Fenway has helped Lowell’s stats during his two-year stay. But if you’ve watched Lowell play both with Florida and Boston, you should’ve noticed that he has adjusted his approach to hitting, choosing to take more pitches to the opposite field - especially on the Road where ballparks aren’t so “left field friendly”. He’ll hit in Yankee Stadium, not as many HRs but plenty more gap hits.
Many are also saying that 4 years is too long for a 33-year third basemen. I didn’t hear many complaining about the
8-year deal offered to our former 32-year old third basemen, which would’ve left him in Pinstripes at Age 40.
Sign Lowell!
A big NO…his swing is perfect for Fenway not Yankee Stadium. It would be a huge mistake.
I’m thinking to sign Lowell would be a good idea. Hitting in the Sox lineup and in their park probably helped him but as Latham Joe said, he could adapt his hitting style. Adding his defense here (even if his bat turns out just ‘adeqate’) would cost no prospects lost via trade. Adding Cabrera’s or Tejada’s bat would. Crede might or might not be injury prone. Going 4 years for Lowell maybe OK w/o overpaying per year.
I think if A-Rod ends up in Boston it may have already been discussed anyways, and it may have something to do with why Boston hasn’t given Lowell the offer he really wants. So signing Lowell could also prevent them from having A-Rod AND Lowell on the left side of the infield.
If A-Rod’s not already pre-ordained to go to Boston, they may be more inclined to extend Manny when his contract’s up. Then if they don’t, their only moster bat for ‘09 would be Ortiz.
If the Yankees re-sign Lowell, look for something like .250, 18, 75. All those bombs he hit at Fenway are flyouts to LF in Yankee Stadium. And he’s not getting any younger. Staying with Betemit as a one-year stopgap allows the team some payroll flexibility to shore up the bullpen or a starter.. and then go with someone better in 2009 if/when a better option is available.
Seriously.. Lowell will not flourish in Yankee Stadium the way he did in Fenway.
no, no, no.
abes - quick cherry-picking your stats to make a weak point
Lowell, in 2006(remember, he played for Bos in 06, too):
home: .260/.327/.436
away: .310/.352/.514
at Yankee Stadium
308/.341/.487
I still wouldn’t give the guy 4 years.
LathamJoe — you don’t seriously believe that Lowell and Arod are even remotely comparable do you? Arod is one of the best players all time. When he is 40 he will be breaking records and will likely still be significantly above average in terms of hitting production. If Lowell is still starting in 4 years, he is likely to be below average in terms of production for a third basement (heck he might be below average in 2 years). There is a significant chance that he will be playing at replacement level in 4 years — I for one am a little tired of paying mega bucks to bench warmers/pinch hitters (damon/matsui and Giambi wave hello). No thanks on Lowell — Frankly I think Betemit is likely to match his production next year.
BPT:
Where did I say that Lowell compared to ARod in talent?
I do think that he is a superior fielder, a better team player, and a more consistent contact hitter.
My point was that both are 3B and, typically, most ballplayers skills start to diminish after Age 35.
We’ve already seen that long-term contracts with ballplayers
who will be performing in their late 30s is somewhat risky.
Signing Lowell for 4 years will likely get at least 2 years of good offensive production and top flight defensive value and another 2 years of decent output at third - at a cost of (probably) $55 Mil total, plus luxury tax.
The Yankees offered ARod a 5-year extension on top of his remaining 3 years in the neighborhood of $235 Million. ARod keeps himself in fine shape so he likely has another 3-4 years of significant production. But since these long term contracts are typically backloaded, ARod will probably be making in the neighborhood of $30 million at ages 38,39 and 40 - not a wise investment for another DH who has yet to yet prove any Post Season production. During those same years , Lowell will be off the books.
I’ve consistently mentioned on this Blog that ARod is the most talented baseball player in the current MLB Era. He is also the most psychologically flawed. Do you really want the media circus that is ARod for another 8 years?
And another thing, BPT, name me one 40-year old MLB player
that is “still significantly above average in terms of hitting production”..that isn’t on steriods or HGH.
Many are also saying that 4 years is too long for a 33-year third basemen. I didn’t hear many complaining about the
8-year deal offered to our former 32-year old third basemen, which would’ve left him in Pinstripes at Age 40.
That sure likes like a comparison to me… it seems apparent to me that the obvious answer to your question is that AROD and Lowell aren’t remotely the same or similar players. Whatever.
As for players performing above average at 40 there are actually more than you might think. Fisk put up OPS+ of 155, 136, and 134 in his 40-42 year old season. Molitor put up an OPS+ of 104 at 40. Hank Aaron put up a 128 in his year 40 season (matching Lowell’s OPS+ in Lowell’s best season and beating his OPS+ this year). Hank had a pretty nice year at 39 as well — .301/.402/.643 with 40HRs for an eye-popping 177 OPS+. Heck, just this year Moises Alou put up a respectable OPS+ of 121.
Check out Hank’s 32-40 seasons — While one can never be sure (injuries etc), its a decent bet that Arod will be quite productive for some time.
BPT:
“Many are also saying that 4 years is too long for a 33-year third basemen. I didn’t hear many complaining about the
8-year deal offered to our former 32-year old third basemen, which would’ve left him in Pinstripes at Age 40.”
Does that sound like a comparison of skills or a comparison about contract length?
You’ve also made a stronger case for NOT signing ballplayers to long term contracts where they’ll play into their 40s.
You’ve used a span of 24 years (1973-2007) to come up with exactly 4 MLB players who you feel have put up “respectable OPS+”.
Aaron’s and Molitor’s OPS+ in their 39-42 years are significantly below their career marks.
“Heck, just this year Moises Alou put up a respectable OPS+ of 121. ”
Yeah, but you failed to mention that Alou, because of age and injuries, played in only 89 Games/328 ABs.
When he is 40 he will be breaking records and will likely still be significantly above average in terms of hitting production.
LathemJoe
Puhleeze! You asked me for one example I gave you four, there are lots more… again whatever.
Where did I say you were comparing ability? I said you were comparing Arod to Lowell period. I quoted your line for the comparison, please find me a quote where I said you were comparing their ability… good luck /shrugs /rolls eyes.
My point is that I think it is entirely reasonable to believe it is less risky to be forced to have Arod on your team for the next 8 years than to have Lowell for the next four. Arod is historically a great player worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Aaron. Lowell is worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as … well Todd Zeile and Doug Decinces (check out there 34-37 age seasons).
Is Arod likely to decline — of course, but he has a lot further to fall before he becomes below average (which is all I claimed he likely would be at 40). Even a steady decline by Lowell will make him bench worthy in a couple of years — we signed Johnny Damon to a four year deal when he was two years younger than Lowell and it looks like he is already bench worthy.