At age 32, Jason Varitek (now 35) came off a year in which he hit .296 with 18 HR and 73 RBI in 2004. Going against their formula, the Sox signed him to 4 year extension at $10 mill a year because they realized how valuable he was to the orginization.Mike Lowell is now 33 and one could argue that with his leadership, defense (11 errors this past season was an abberation), clubhouse personality (bridge between Spanish and American players), his offense and the ability to play both in Fenway and Boston, he may be almost as valuable as Varitek to this team right now.
Also, hopefully the Red Sox are finally understanding that you can spend tons of money on the Renteria's and JD Drew's, but you never know how they will perform in this environment until it's too late. If the Sox can give JD Drew (31) a 5 year $70 mill deal and Julio Lugo (31) a 4 year $36 mill deal, then they cany pony up at least a 3 year $13 mill a year deal for Mike Lowell.
Salary coming off Sox Payroll:
- Schilling $13 mill
- Clement $9.5 mill
- Gagne $6 mill
- Hinske $5.7 mill (half paid by Blue Jays)
- Tavarez $3.1 mill
- Donellely $1.4 mill
