The Boston Red Sox have finalized a three-year contract to keep third baseman and World Series MVP Mike Lowell.
The announcement was made by Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. The Boston Herald reported Tuesday that Lowell will be paid $37.5 million to remain with the Red Sox through the 2010 season.
The 33-year-old Lowell was reportedly being courted by at least one other team willing to offer a four-year deal. He was acquired in a seven-player trade with the Florida Marlins on November 24, 2005.
“It wasn’t tough in the sense I knew I wanted to play in Boston,” Lowell said of his negotiations. “I think what we wanted was four years. The tough part was filtering between four years with other teams and three years with the Red Sox. I can’t say I’m upset with the situation. How can you be upset with the money I’ll be making over the next three years with the team who I believe is going to compete for a world title.”
Lowell batted a career-high .324 last season with 21 homers and 120 RBI last season. The 10-year veteran has a career .280 average with 184 home runs and 778 RBI with the New York Yankees, Florida and Boston.
This past season, Lowell ranked fifth in the American League in RBI and had the seventh highest batting average. He had career bests in hits, RBI, and on- base percentage (.378). Also, his 120 RBI were the fifth most by an American League third baseman since 1950 and the most ever for a Red Sox third baseman.
Lowell ramped up his play during the postseason, batting .353 with a pair of homers and 15 RBI in 14 games. He hit .400 with a homer and four RBI in Boston’s sweep of Colorado in the World Series.
“Signing Mike was a huge part of our off-season and we really made it a priority,” Epstein said. “Now that Mike’s on board and Curt Schilling’s back, I think we’re feeling pretty comfortable with our starting position players and our starting pitching. We’ll turn our attention to our bullpen and our bench and see what other opportunities might be out there for us the rest of this winter.”
- Steve
