Mike Lowell MVP

Tim Wakefield's (15-10) continued domination of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (19-2 overall against the D-Rays and 9-0 at Tropicana Field) will undoubtedly be the main storyline of the Sox 6-0 win on Monday night. Manny Ramirez two RBI's against the D-Rays also deserves mention as these RBI's pushed him to 28th on the all-time list with 1,600 (Manny has 132 RBI's against the D-Rays--the most he has against any team). However, the real storyline of the night should be Mike Lowell. The Red Sox third baseman collected 2 hits, including his 17th home run, a double, 2 walks, 1 run and 3 RBI's in pacing the impressive offensive attack against Sox nemisis Scott Kazmir. Overall, Lowell is now batting .314 and leads the team with 85 RBI's.

Many times during the 2007 campaign Your Red Sox Diarist has ventured that Hideki Okajima is the Red Sox MVP. After giving the issue some serious thought, however, instead of a "gut-feel" or "knee-jerk" answer to the question, while Oki is a serious candidate for AL Rookie of the Year (along with Dustin Pedroia and Dice-K), Mike Lowell is the Red Sox MVP. Here are the reasons:

Lowell, in addition to leading the team with 85 RBI's (Manny is second with 84), is second on the team in batting average, second in slugging at .498 (Big Papi is first at .556), 3rd in home runs, first in hits, tied for second in doubles (with Manny), second in total bases and 3rd in OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging). While Lowell will not win a gold glove this year because of his uncharacteristically high 14 errors, Lowell does lead AL 3rd baseman in double plays and is 4th in the AL in assists. Both on and off the field Lowell is the consummate professional (similar to his predecessor at third base--Billy "Ballgame" Mueller) and according to press reports, is one of Tito's favorites on the team because of his professionalism, leadership and positive attitude both on and off the field.

Since Lowell is a free agent at the end of this year (he came to Boston as part of the Beckett trade--more on that in a future post), the "powers that be" on Number 4 Yawkey Way will be forced to decide in the off-season whether to let him walk or sign him to a new deal. Lowell is 33 years old and in his 9th big league season. As Lowell is on a US$9 million per year ticket, the Red Sox brass must weigh whether to re-sign Lowell or put the money to other uses--such as putting it towards a run for A-Rod, who if he decides to exercise his right to void the remaining years on his contract with the Yankees and become a free agent--is expected to command upwards of US$30 million per year in a new contract.

While some in the front office are enamored with A-Rod in a Red Sox uniform--most notably Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino--there are others who believe the incremental US$21 million it would cost to land A-Rod would be better utilized enhancing other areas of the team. Your Red Sox Diarist believes that A-Rod would be a cancer in the Red Sox clubhouse and his experience with the Yankees should be a good case study for those making the decisions in the Red Sox Baseball Operations Department. To keep Mike Lowell, the Red Sox would probably need to offer him a two year contract worth US$20 million total with a club option for the 3rd year, and maybe the 4th year. The Red Sox could then take that US$21 million annual saving (plus the US$14 million saved by not re-signing Curt Schilling in the off-season--more on that in a future post as well) and make a serious run at Johan Santana, who by the way struck out 17 in 8 innings in the Twins 1-0 win over Texas on Sunday.