How Does Mike Lowell Fit

In this article from Boston.com is a little tidbit that should the Red Sox part ways with Mike Lowell, he could be on his way to Minnesota. Would Lowell be a good fit?

First of all, Lowell is a much better hitter than either Nick Punto or Brendan Harris, the likely third basemen. He’s been above average with the bat every year of his career, save for 2005. He has had back to back wOBAs in the .340s, so he is definitely a good option, even if he doesn’t walk much. But really, seeing as he would likely be the 7 hitter, that’s pretty damn good.

Defensively, Lowell is definitely not as good as Nick Punto. Punto is somewhere around a +10 at third base, whereas Lowell is probably going to be close to average. However, Lowell has probably a 15 run advantage at the plate, so net net that is a win.

Lowell has had some injury problems, and likely wouldn’t be good for more than 120 games or so I would guess, whereas Punto has never been bitten too terribly by the injury bug. If Lowell gets hurt, Punto can slide right into 3B and you shift that positions value from offense to defense.

Lowell’s contract is very steep, but assuming Boston eats a large portion of it for a guy like Kyle Waldrop (just off the top of my head), I think the Twins can get it done, and I think they should get it done as it is becoming more and more evident everyday that Danny Valencia will never ever ever ever be the guy.