Boston Red Sox: 50 greatest players of all-time

The Red Sox acquired young right-hander Derek Lowe in what turned out to be one of the most lopsided trades in baseball lore — the Seattle Mariners sending Lowe and young catcher Jason Varitek to the Red Sox for reliever Heathcliff Slocumb.

Whoops.

Lowe had a widely varied eight-year run with the Red Sox, pitching in middle relief, starting a bit and then becoming an All-Star closer in 2000, when he led the American League with 42 saves.

Two seasons later, Lowe was an All-Star starter, winning 21 games and finishing third in the Cy Young voting, throwing a no-hitter for good measure.

He had that sort of versatilty and even though he spent most of the latter part of his career in the rotation, it was that ability to slide into different roles that helped him stick in the bigs.

With the Red Sox, Lowe had an interesting combination of finishing 154 games, starting 111 and saving 85.

It was also Lowe who started and got the win against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the 2004 World Series, when Boston ended its 86-year title drought. Lowe allowed three hits in seven shutout innings, striking out four.

In January 2005, Lowe left the Red Sox to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent.

In parts of eight seasons with Boston, Lowe was 70-55 with a 3.72 ERA and 1.288 WHIP, an ERA+ of 127 and 673 strikeouts in 1,037 innings.

Lowe appeared in four postseasons with the Red Sox, going 4-4 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.097 WHIP in 62 innings. He appeared in 17 games, starting six, and had one save, striking out 37.

He had made 12 appearances with the Mariners in 1997 before the trade and went on to pitch for the Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers before he was released in May 2013.