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Mets Pursuing Mike Lowell

Per John Perrotto:

The Mets also seem the most likely team to trade for Red Sox corner infielder Mike Lowell, with the idea of playing him at first base

The Chicago Tribute corroborates. Mike Lowell was linked to the Mets earlier in the offseason in a potential straight up trade for Luis Castillo. Said deal, however, might not be in the cards with Jose Reyes out for a indefinite period, Orlando Hudson signed, and Anderson Hernandez on the Indians. I would still offer Castillo and plan to use Tejada at 2B when Reyes returns, but the Mets rarely act as I would. 

Regardless of Castillo, Mike Lowell might be worth grabbing anyway. He could platoon with Daniel Murphy or start at firstbase, causing the Mets to release either Tatis, Catalanotto, or Jacobs. Assuming health, Lowell should be good for a ~.345 wOBA and plus defense at first. It is very debatable whether the difference between that and Murphy's projections outweigh the opportunity of giving young Daniel a chance to develop/establish himself, but this roster could use redundancy. And given his track-record, Lowell's upside is arguably even greater than Murphy's. 

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I wouldn't be averse to this

If Boston pays $9m, and Jacobs is released. Mind you, Carter went 3-3 today.

by deadspy3 on Mar 21, 2010 4:12 PM EDT reply actions  

The main question is, who/what do we trade for Lowell?

I’m not averse to using him a first base, but his contract is awfully large if we take it all on, especially assuming that he won’t be playing 100% of the time. Not that there’s any reason to keep our payroll so low, given that we know the organization can, in theory, handle it, but lately, being as that we’ve been picking pennies and all…

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 21, 2010 5:10 PM EDT reply actions  

Platoon with Murphy?

Looks like Manuel has his heart set on Jacobs instead of Murph.

"Never throw a slider to The Glider."

- Ed Charles, No. 5

by The Glider on Mar 21, 2010 5:16 PM EDT reply actions  

Why would someone (even Omar and Jerry)

choose a broken down Lowell over Jacobs ?.

At least Jacobs is healthy.

you know what I'm sayin' ?

by fxcarden on Mar 21, 2010 5:25 PM EDT reply actions  

Maybe,

but do we really need another broken down player ?

you know what I'm sayin' ?

by fxcarden on Mar 21, 2010 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions  

OK

At least when Lowell occasionally plays he occasionally gets on base.

you know what I'm sayin' ?

by fxcarden on Mar 21, 2010 6:11 PM EDT up reply actions  

didn't we cover this incessantly in the Francoeur discussion?

Staying healthy is not actually a good thing when a player is a net negative.

by anonymous on Mar 21, 2010 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions  

but being on the DL doesn't help either.

I’m sorry guys…..I don’t mean to start a war over Jacobs. I don’t care if he makes the team or not. My point is I’d rather have him than another old guy.

you know what I'm sayin' ?

by fxcarden on Mar 21, 2010 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions  

You are aware that Jacobs played in only nine more games than Lowell last year, right?

Perhaps today IS a good day to die.
- Klingon proverb

by fightoffyourdemons on Mar 21, 2010 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions  

that wasn't due to injury, however.

at least I can find no reference to it.

I know Lowell is coming off hip surgery.

you know what I'm sayin' ?

by fxcarden on Mar 21, 2010 6:19 PM EDT up reply actions  

Yeah, it was due to him not being a particularly good baseball player.

Perhaps today IS a good day to die.
- Klingon proverb

by fightoffyourdemons on Mar 21, 2010 7:16 PM EDT up reply actions   1 recs

Lowell > Jacobs

I am a lot more opposed to Jacobs on the roster than I am enthused about Lowell on the roster.

by James Kannengieser on Mar 21, 2010 6:19 PM EDT up reply actions  

This

This, this, a thousand times this.

by SoCal Metfan on Mar 22, 2010 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions  

After reading Posnanski's thoughts on Jacobs for a whole year

I can never ever ever ever ever get behind Jacobs playing for this team, mainly because I have no faith in Manuel whatsoever to actually utilize Jacobs correctly, just like Trey Hillman.

by shwebsi on Mar 21, 2010 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions  

No amazingly

Jacobs is bad enough that even a broke down Mike Lowell is still better.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 21, 2010 6:00 PM EDT up reply actions  

99 HR's over last 3 seasons is crappy / bad ?.

I know Lowell could (past) hit, but at this point I think he should retire. He strikes me as one of those players that doesn’t realize when his time is up. Of course, Omar has been there and done that with Alou.

Watch him trade someone good for Lowell.

you know what I'm sayin' ?

by fxcarden on Mar 21, 2010 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions  

Jacobs is 29. Lowell is 36.

Big difference.

you know what I'm sayin' ?

by fxcarden on Mar 21, 2010 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions  

Jacobs isn't worth of a ML roster spot

Lowell is, even bigger difference.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 21, 2010 6:20 PM EDT up reply actions  

17 + 32 + 19 = 99?

Something is funny with your math. And yeah, Jacobs’s lack of on-base skills pretty much obviates any positive that his power might contribute.

by anonymous on Mar 21, 2010 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions  

Yeah my bad.

It’s Cuban math.

you know what I'm sayin' ?

by fxcarden on Mar 21, 2010 6:11 PM EDT up reply actions  

forget Jacobs

Carter, Evans and Murphy. A healthy Jacobs just means more crappy Jacobs PA’s to deal with.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 21, 2010 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions  

Carter went 3-3 today

albeit against the Univ. of Michigan.

"Never throw a slider to The Glider."

- Ed Charles, No. 5

by The Glider on Mar 21, 2010 6:31 PM EDT up reply actions  

Jacobs is worse than the other 1st basemen the Mets have.

Its hurts the Mets when he plays, compared to their other options.
Lowell should be better than the Mets other options, especially in a platoon.

by EtSuKe on Mar 21, 2010 9:32 PM EDT up reply actions  

Let's also not forget

how brutally bad Jacobs is with the glove. The Mets are an NL team, there’s no DH to hide a horrible glove like Jacobs.

He does one thing well: hit homers. That’s all well and nice for him, but the Mets have real deficiences that his one dimension doesn’t address.

by SoCal Metfan on Mar 22, 2010 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions  

A word of caution from a Cubs fan re: Phil Rogers

A lot of his columns are so contrived that he has to occasionally be making things up just to have something to write about. Take any “rumor” that he suggests with a grain of salt.

If they could pull that trade off, I think Sam’s suggestion of putting Tejada at second base is probably a good one.

I'm singing, "GO CUBS GO! GO CUBS GO!" -- DrCrawdad on Jun 12, 2009 7:23 AM CDT

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! -- Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on Mar 21, 2010 5:40 PM EDT reply actions  

With Carter, Murphy, Evans, and Tatis,

isn’t Lowell a bit redundant for us? And since all four of them can play OF corners and Lowell can’t, we’d lose a little bit of versatility with Lowell instead of one of them.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Mar 21, 2010 7:43 PM EDT reply actions  

He can pass for it, anyway.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 21, 2010 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions  

and he can play

second and third

"We're investigating the investigative procedure of the investigation of Tony Bernazard"---Omar Minaya (he really didn't say it but he would"

by firejerrynow on Mar 22, 2010 6:45 AM EDT up reply actions  

Carter can't really play first

and he’s the only one in Lowell’s league as a hitter

by Sam Page on Mar 21, 2010 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions  

He's not good at it, but he could get some reps there, probably can't be much worse than Jacobs

Third is out of the question, but if third is a problem, things are much, much worse than any of us are anticipating.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Mar 21, 2010 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions  

I assume (hope)

that Murphy would be the emergency replacement for Wright, unless he somehow is firmly entrenched somewhere else.

by Sam Page on Mar 21, 2010 10:18 PM EDT up reply actions  

I'd just be leary of the cost to acquire him.

Boston was getting a pretty good player from Texas before Lowell had his thumb issues, and I’d be against paying that type of price.

Who cares how bad the Bay deal will look in 2013, the world is going to end in 2012 anyway

by Schmidtxc on Mar 21, 2010 8:25 PM EDT reply actions  

I agree

and that’s why I’m not sure I believe the castillo lowell swaps realistic, but if the markets dried up for him they might be willing to take a straight swap just to get under the luxury tax.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 21, 2010 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions  

I can't see Castillo being on the table anymore, as I think trading him now would be much tougher to justify.

I’d have to think it would be prospects heading to Boston.

Who cares how bad the Bay deal will look in 2013, the world is going to end in 2012 anyway

by Schmidtxc on Mar 21, 2010 10:07 PM EDT up reply actions  

Really I think it would be harder to justify prospects

especially if Tejada continues to hit. I imagine the average fan sees Castillo as the spawn of the devil and tejada as some sort of savior.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 21, 2010 11:12 PM EDT up reply actions  

here we go again

this made sense when hudson, lopez and O-Cabrara were on the market but right now? its stupid. Let’s carry 10 firstbaseman and 10 catchers this yr.

by TheKid08 on Mar 21, 2010 8:33 PM EDT reply actions  

We should get Lowell

Lowell would be a perfect option for us to gave rather than Jacobs or Tatis. Even though he is older than Jacobs, he will hit for a better average, still provide offensive power and is a much superior fielder than Jacobs. And his health should not be a problem. He is coming off thumb surgery, I think similar to Frenchie who is healthy, and Lowell will only be platooning and filling in for Murphy and Wright while providing us with depth and a great bench. Wouldn’t we want Lowell coming off the bench as a pinch hitter in a tight spot than Jacobs. I would rather have a proven winner with experience than Jacobs who is jumping from organization to another. And Lowell should be able to stay healthy because we would only use him for a max of 100 games, most likely a lot less unless Murphy stinks it up. And he is a great insurance option, especially if Murphy doesn’t do too well. We should also be able to get Lowell on the cheap since Boston has no spot for him to play and is just taking up a roster spot that they could use for a pitcher. Boston would not take Castillo for him as they have no need for him either, but we could definitely give them a much lower minor league player; maybe even give them Jacobs or send Carter back to them.

by TomCarvel on Mar 21, 2010 8:56 PM EDT reply actions  

i would give up Tatis for him

or release Tatis for him if Boston eats all of his salary but it makes no sense why would they eat all of his contract. They can use him off the bench. just another stupid rumor to talk about.

by TheKid08 on Mar 21, 2010 9:23 PM EDT reply actions  

I think this would be a good move if the Mets were going for the playoffs.

Right now, the Mets are looking at .500. I don’t think an upgrade in Lowell over Murphy/Tatis/Carter/Evans/Jacobs/Davis is worth losing the chance of playing the youg’uns and seeing if they develop. I would improve the team now, and of course it depends on who the Mets are giving up.

by EtSuKe on Mar 21, 2010 9:30 PM EDT reply actions  

but with this regime

it’s likely either watch Jacobs take away opportunities from the young guns or watch Lowell do it.

"We have a plan, and our plan, I like our plan'

it's Omar's world, we're just livin in it.

by Gina on Mar 21, 2010 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions  

I like this talk

Just because it makes me think Omar realizes that what he hoped would pan out for 1st base is not panning out. That he realizes that is an excellent thing.

by SuperT on Mar 21, 2010 9:48 PM EDT reply actions  

That's if it's not a rumor, and Omar is aware of what's going on.

Possibly a big IF.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Mar 21, 2010 9:58 PM EDT up reply actions  

uh

I guess. If his plan was to see if Daniel Murphy would magically come to Spring Training looking Barry Bonds and, if not, trade for Mike Lowell, I would be concerned. Or maybe he only realized recently that Murphy kind of sucks. Or maybe he views Mike Lowell as a long-term solution. No, I’m not really comforted by the supposed thought process behind all this.

by Sam Page on Mar 21, 2010 10:20 PM EDT up reply actions  

Well, I had a theory that he brought Jacobs in

hoping for one of his Tatis-esque resurgences in a player that most everyone thought was done. (The thought process behind that plan would not be encouraging, as there is nothing to indicate that Jacobs is anything but what he’s shown himself to be, but we know Omar doesn’t like to dig into the numbers.)

He assumed Murphy would be servicable, but Murph is having a bad spring, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get back to the days when everyone hoped he could maybe be something. Jacobs hits big home runs, but maybe after actually watching him play this spring, Omar has gotten a better sense of what he’s not.

by SuperT on Mar 21, 2010 11:55 PM EDT up reply actions  

To be fair to Omar,

I don’t think there was anything to suggest ‘Stache was going to have any kind of resurgence in 2006. Nothing wrong with signing a veteran player and seeing if he’s got anything to contribute. But Jacobs isn’t any better than several other options we’ve got at first who are alternately cheaper/younger/better/more versatile.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Mar 22, 2010 6:46 PM EDT up reply actions  

I still say...

It makes sense and creates a new (old) position choice for Daniel Murphy. I would honestly look at moving him to second; the transition would be good in the sense that Murphy now having seen the perspective of first, can properly angle grounders hit to him and how to properly position them.

Adding Lowell gives the Mets “real” veteran experience where it matters…towards season’s end. Let’s face it, outside of Santana and Beltran, who on this team really knows who to move their teammates forward when the 5-month push begins to lag??

Danz

by Danz10 on Mar 22, 2010 9:11 AM EDT reply actions  

And that deal for me would be...

Mets: Lowell

Red Sox: Castillo
                 Green

Danz

by Danz10 on Mar 22, 2010 9:12 AM EDT reply actions  

Curious.

I am seeing absolutely no other word about this anywhere. And MLBTR appears to have passed on the tip.

by LeiterMilnerFasterStronger on Mar 22, 2010 10:53 AM EDT reply actions  

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