Woooohoooooooo!!! This report comes from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:
Free-agent third baseman Mike Lowell has agreed in principle to the framework of a three-year deal to return to the Red Sox, major league baseball sources close to the negotiations have confirmed.
Lowell, 33, tested the free-agent waters, and may have received at least one four-year offer from another undisclosed team, but in the end the Sox third baseman elected to stay where he was most comfortable. Sources indicate that the three year deal is worth in the $36-$38 million range.
The Red Sox had placed a deadline of today for Lowell to make up his mind. If Lowell had passed on the Sox offer, which remained pretty close to the original offer they made the World Series MVP, they were ready to begin implementing their Plan B.
The Sox have now re-signed both of their major free-agents – Curt Schilling, who agreed to a one-year deal for $8 million and $5 million in incentives. The Sox could now entertain a deal for outfielder Coco Crisp sometimes between now and the winter meetings in December.
I think we are all glad we didn’t have to get to Plan B, which only the Red Sox know about. This is a good signing for the Red Sox and I am sure in the end Lowell got a fair deal. Obviously if he didn’t, he would have gone elsewhere.
The pieces are starting to fall into place for the Red Sox now. We still need to replace or re-sign Mike Timlin, Doug Mirabelli, Eric Hinske. But other than that, the core of the roster looks to remain the same. As the article states, Coco could be dealt, maybe for a backup catcher, although Coco should command more than that via a trade.
