He spent 8 seasons in a Red Sox uniform and cut his teeth so to speak in the majors at the same time. He was an instrumental part in the historic comeback in 2004 against the Yankees and again in the World Series that erased an 86-year drought. Now Derek Lowe and the Boston Red Sox could be reunited if Ben Cherington reaches out and claims Lowe from waivers, where he was put by his club the Cleveland Indians. As much as Red Sox fans would love to see Lowe back in Fenway, the feeling is mutual.
Lowe went on the record and made it known that he would welcome the chance to return to Boston to finish out his career. Cherington also chimed in on the situation, stating that he and his men would look at it the situation when he was a guest on Dennis & Callahan. .
“Derek obviously had a great run here,” Cherington said. “We’ll take a look at it. But we still need to focus on the guys here. We have great respect for Derek and what he did. We’ll take a look at it. If it makes sense to pursue, we’ll do so. That will be on the agenda today. But we still feel like we have the potential solutions internally for our rotation.”
I’m not sure what internal options he’s talking about when you consider both Josh Beckett and Aaron Cook stink. Sure you can move Franklin Morales back to the rotation but that still leaves one spot vacant. Daniel Bard? Nope, been there, tried that. Someone at triple-A? Maybe Brandon Duckworth although he could likely use more seasoning. There were others who we dealt away in Justin Germano and Ross Ohlendorf.
But looking at Lowe’s numbers this season begs the question if this would really be an upgrade from what the Red Sox currently have. On the year Lowe is 8-10 through 21 starts with a 5.52 ERA and a 1.689 WHIP. Very Beckett and Cook like.
Lowe was headed to Fort Myers for a “tune-up” with his personal trainer Chris Correnti in hopes he can turn his mechanics around and return to his dominating form that he profiled through the first two months of the season. In April Lowe went 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA. May was also a good month going 2-2 with a 3.57 ERA, but then things started to slip. He’s lost four straight starts and struggled to miss many bats, hence the demotion/waiver wire.
On a year when this Red Sox club has not provided a lot to cheer about, a reunion with one of the more popular players from days past would be a bright spot as August begins.
At 39-years of age, Lowe is getting ready to focus on life after baseball and one last hoorah in a Sox uniform would be a fitting swan song for both Lowe and the Fenway Faithful. All that has to happen now is for Cherington to be convinced the move should happen and call Cleveland to strike a deal.