 February 26, 2010 -- In case you missed it during the rush to get to the weekend or while watching the final weekend of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Theo Epstein said he was not expecting to trade Mike Lowell before the season begins.
In an interview with radio station WEEI, Epstein expressed that despite trying to move Lowell to Texas in a deal that went bad, the veteran third baseman who is recovering from thumb surgery is likely to stay despite losing his starting job to newly acquired Adrian Beltre.
"Since the Texas deal blew up I haven’t expected a trade and we planned internally on him being a part of this club,” Epstein said. “That’s why we haven’t brought in anyone else to back us up at the corner infield. What better player could you ask for to protect you at third base, at first base and designated hitter than Mike Lowell and to serve as a right-handed bat off the bench? Injuries happen. It takes more than eight position players to get through the year and to have a guy like Mike Lowell to step in would be huge for us."
Now, could this be just some be just a general manager positioning himself in a fair position in case Lowell does end up on the Opening Day roster? That's for you to decide.
As for Lowell, when asked if he was willing to take a role as a back-up third baseman, he replied:
"I've never been approached to say that's in their plans," Lowell said. "But like I said, if I'm definitely healthier at this point than last year, I don't know why I should have less at-bats."
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