Trading away a classy champion

It's not official, but the odds are the Red Sox will complete their deal with the Rangers, and Mike Lowell, who went from a throw-in in one of baseball's greatest trades to World Series MVP, will soon be a former Red Sox.

As I said last year, Mike Lowell is the type of player who is sometimes hard to appreciate if you're like me and don't get to see your team play every day. I still don't know whether I would have re-signed him after the great 2007, but I understand a bit more why the fans, enamored with his grit, defense, selflessness and toughness, demanded his return.

I'm sad to lose a player of his character but understand that he is shot. His battered body couldn't even play adequate defense last year. Max Ramirez isn't the catching prospect on the Rangers that we have been coveting, but I'm sure he will be more productive for the team than Lowell would have been - even with the countless millions the Red Sox will pay the third baseman to play for the Rangers.

There seems to be frustration in Boston that the Red Sox aren't going tit for tat with the Empire. I say be patient. We are not the Yankees. We can win without a $200 million payroll and a mercenary roster with All-Stars at every position. Theo Epstein knows what he's doing, and even though I'm not a big Adrian Beltre fan, I can understand the logic if he is playing in the Fens next year, even if Peter Abraham isn't certain:

If the impending trade of Lowell to Texas leads to the Sox signing Beltre, don't just look at Beltre's numbers at the plate. Look at his ability to prevent runs. Based on advanced defensive metrics (UZR and UZR/150), Beltre was roughly the second or third best defensive third baseman in the game last season.

That means fewer singles into left, more double plays, less pitches thrown, etc. There's value in that.

The question is whether it's worth eating $9 million on Lowell and paying whatever Scott Boras is going to demand for Beltre. That I'm not so sure of.

So, if this plays out, I thank Lowell for his service and his contribution toward the second World Series Championship in my lifetime. I also thank him for being able to be called by Nick Cafardo "one of the classiest individuals to ever don a Red Sox uniform."

That's pretty impressive considering the lengthy history of the franchise and the fact that he spent just four seasons in Boston after he was a money dump throw-in in the Josh Beckett for Hanley Ramirez swap.

Names in the news: If the deal is consummated, we could have Max Ramirez on the bench and two Ramon Ramirezes in the bullpen. No word yet whether Theo has contacted the Dodgers about bringing Manny back to fill the void in left field.

The Red Sox also signed one of our favorite baseball names, Boof Bonser. Christine and I have always enjoyed his name. We just found out that it has reminded each of us of a different cheesy Michael J. Fox movie. Me - Back to the Future because of Biff. Christine - Teen Wolf because of Lisa "Boof" Marconi. {Note to Greg: Back to the Future is not cheesy.}

Finally, the Phillies lost Carlos Monasterios in the Rule 5 draft, meaning there's just one remaining player from the Bobby Abreu trade. At least those of us at SoxandPhils who are spelling-challenged won't have to worry about screwing up his name again.