Still Say no to Lowell

Once a return to the Bronx seemed immanent for Alex Rodriguez, I thought that at least it would mean that the Yankees were safe from spending an exorbitant amount of money on Mike Lowell. Well I was wrong. Even with the whole at third base seemingly filled by A-Rod, the rumors of the Yankees pursuit of Mike Lowell live on. Now, the Yankees are reportedly interested in Lowell making the move to first base, although Lowell has not made it clear whether or not this is a move he is interested in making. The contract has been reported to be for four years and somewhere between $50 million and $60 million, but there are also reports that the Yankees have taken the offer off of the table. The fact of the matter is that Lowell is not any better of a fit for the Yankees at first base then he would have been at third, and may even be worse. These were my recent thoughts on Lowell as a hitter, so I won’t go into great detail again on that aspect. The big problem with him now, aside from the fact that he’ll be older, overpaid, and not as good a hitter as he was with Boston, is the way he does or doesn’t fit the team. Lowell has never played first base in the major leagues, but he did play eight games there in the minor leagues with the last time being in 1998. Even though the move to first base for an infielder is often not thought of as a big deal, his inexperience at the position could certainly hurt the team especially considering the amount of ground balls Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte (assuming he returns) induce. The Yankees need for a power right handed bat is also greatly reduced considering the return of A-Rod, making Lowell less needed. Bringing Lowell in would certainly mean that somebody else would have to be discarded, as he would create a big logjam at first base and DH. Doug Mientkiewicz would obviously not be re-signed, Andy Phillips would likely not be needed, Johnny Damon is set to play left field while Matsui is expected to DH most of the time, and Jason Giambi, Wilson Betemit, and Shelley Duncan would be set to be strictly bench players. The best solution would probably to just eat Giambi’s salary and cut him since no one is likely to take him in a trade, but that will probably not happen. The fact of the matter is that Lowell does not provide enough of an upgrade at first to justify creating such a log jam in the team, not to mention that his salary is likely to bring the Yankees salary back up to well over $200 million. Once again, just let the Red Sox have him.