Joe Sheehan on the Ramirez-Lowell deal

is exaggeration, but it is a mistake and I keep hoping Lowell will fail his physical. Lowell has nothing on any number of other guys who could fill that need later in the offseason without giving up Max.

I’d rather keep Max even if he never amounted to anything.

I highly highly doubt he sticks at catcher. Is Ortiz gone after this season? If not where are they gonna stash Max? Hes out of options after this season and with Youkliss at 1B I don’t see any room for him unless Ortiz is gone which I don’t see happening.

Ok just looked it up. Ortiz is signed through 2010 with a 2011 club option for the same price as the last 4 years (12.5 million)

I’m not excited about moving Max, but moving Max will not prevent a the Rangers from acquiring another player later. The Rangers might be overpaying, but what they are getting in return is less risk of dropoff in DH production and very likely an increase. They’re trading long-term potential for reduced risk. That’s a reasonable thing to do.

I don’t know if Max is over or under rated at this point. I still have the feeling he could have an Edgar Martinez year in him, but it would seem that year would very likely be a few years off.

It’s not an ideal trade, because JD isn’t in a position where he can wait and time the market just right. But, it is a reasonable one, and it does increase significantly the odds that the DH production will improve over last year’s. Those are really good things, and I think some folks are overlooking the bottom line by overemphasizing value.

While “standard for being a bat, only a bat” is high, Lowell is higher than anyone else the Rangers have. And they aren’t free around the industry. That is nonsense.

Obviously Nick Johnson > Mike Lowell. Jim Thome > Mike Lowell. Heck, Vlad is probably > Mike Lowell. But those guys are not “free” – maybe they are in terms of prospects (which they have), but they aren’t in terms of the commodity the Rangers actually lack.

But Mike Lowell > Hank Blalock, who was our “only a bat” last year.

In a vacuum, yeah – you don’t want Lowell as your DH. But in reality – which people seem so blind to, or just refuse to accept – the Rangers aren’t spending the money for Nick Johnson or Jim Thome. The option is Lowell or some ramshackle combination of Murphy, or Boggs, and whatever 4th or 5th OF you have lying around at DH.

So yeah, it’d be great if the Rangers could sign Nick Johnson. It’d have been great if the Rangers could have signed Harden without dumping Millwood. It’d have been great if the Rangers could have traded for Victor Martinez. It’d be great if they could sign Matt Holliday and hell, Jason Bay too. Whatever.

The point of running a ballclub is to make marginal improvements where you can.

the Rangers give Glaus 3 mil and keep MaxRam.

That said, I don’t think it’s a huge mistake, just a move that I wouldn’t make.

The Rangers have zero depth behind Young at 3B. Zero. Unless this team is prepared to plug a guy like Inglett or Whittleman in there for however long, it pays to have a backup plan. Also, it didn’t take too long for people to forget that in 2008 Young’s bat was an area of weakness. It might not hurt being able to rest him in the field from time to time.

Also, this team desparately needed a RH bat. I would have preferred Jermaine Dye, who I still think is this year’s Bobby Abreu, and who is a legit clean up hitter as opposed to a decent six hole hitter. As for Thome and Vlad, I think JD places a premium on having 13-14 hitters on the roster who can all play in the field. It gives Wash more flexibility. I don’t completely agree with that mentality, but some may argue JD is a wiser man than I.

Ultimately, in Lowell, we have a guy who can legitimately hit lefties and spell Young at 3B and Davis at 1B, and we are getting him for $3M or less. The cost of Max Ramirez is the cost of having Tom Hicks for an owner.

Spit on him next time you see him.

Lowell will/would be hurt by playing in Arlington and not Fenway?

is why not wait until the non tender deadline, which is only in a couple of days?

What if Garrett Atkins gets non tendered, or Ryan Garko? At least see what those guys might get in the market before doing this deal…

I was not sure how I feel about this. I didnt like seeing Max go, but I too had soured on him as a prospect. In an ideal world we’d be able to keep him and just about anyone else who has a sliver of chance of becoming something special. But to be able to parlay him into a tangible benefit over what we had last year, I think it’s a solid move. Plus, like the Millwood trade, I think it’s unfair to judge JD until all the chess pieces have been played. Im not saying we will turn around and flip Lowell, but Im at least willing to give him some benefit of the doubt until we can see the off-season holistically.

Well… sort of.

And while Texas people were pleased to be getting a very smart guy with a nice personality in Lowell (as opposed to original target Milton Bradley), people who communicate often with the Red Sox front office painted Lowell in another light after the deal was agreed to — that of an occasionally disgruntled clubhouse guy (that’s certainly not the Lowell I remember more than a decade ago coming up with the Yankees)

And how did the Rangers not make the winners list.

Winners and losers from relatively uneventful winter meetings