Mike Lowell has some Trade Deadline stories
Of all the the stories surfacing from the 2023 Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, the saga of Eduardo Rodriguez has become of the most notable.
The Detroit Tigers' pitcher decided to lean on his no-trade clause, roadblocking the trade between the Tigers and Dodgers that would have sent Rodriguez to Los Angeles. The former Red Sox hurler cited his desire to not uproot his family, while another report suggested Rodriguez was asking for a contract sweetener in order to make the move.
The scenario isn't commonplace in the world of Major League Baseball, although such decisions have been put in place here and there.
Case in point: Mike Lowell rebuffing a deal to the Yankees in 2010.
The situation was such that the third baseman had already announced earlier in the season that 2010 would be his last, having dealt with a hip injury that would require further surgery after his playing days. The ailment had limited Lowell's playing time with the Red Sox, who had fallen out of contention by the time the end-of-July non-waiver trade deadline rolled around.
The Sox sat 6 1/2 games behind the Yankees for first-place in the American League, and 5 1/2 games out of the only Wild Card spot. Adrian Beltre was playing third base. Kevin Youkilis was at first. And David Ortiz was, obviously, the designated hitter. There wasn't much room for the ailing Lowell.
So, as the Deadline crept up, Lowell got word that manager Terry Francona and general manager Theo Epstein wanted to meet with him.
"I knew I was retiring and with my hip situation I wasn’t playing much. I will never forget, I’m called into Tito’s office and Theo was there and they were like, ‘Hey, we have a trade on the table for you.’ I was like, ‘Oh, OK,’ because I knew there was a chance at one point of going to Texas and there was another chance of me going to Minnesota," Lowell said while appearing on the 'Baseball Isn't Boring' podcast. "For me, DHing was a possibility with my hip. What really wore me out was playing defense. But I’m not going to DH for the Red Sox because David is there. To a certain degree I was like, ‘You know what, for two months I would go to another team. There is a chance I could go to the postseason.’ I just wasn’t contributing at all. I felt like I was in a little bit in limbo.
"I said, ‘Theo, where is it?’ He said, ‘Well, you would have to waive your no-trade clause.’ I said, ‘That’s weird.’ I had a three-team no-trade clause. I could name three and the Red Sox named three teams. Basically, I named, and nothing against them, West Coast teams. I didn’t want to go to the West Coast. San Francisco, Oakland and maybe Detroit were my three teams. I didn’t even know the teams the Red Sox had picked. So, one of the teams the Red Sox picked were the Yankees. Seemed obvious. Theo goes, ‘We have something in place for you to go to the Yankees.’ And I was like, ‘You’re willing to basically - I know they had to swallow some of my contract that was left - to send me to the team that is our arch-rival?’ I felt so useless. This is where I have come for the last eight weeks of the season?"
(To hear Lowell talk about the 2010 saga, go to the 24:30 mark of the following audio file.)
After the initial shock, Lowell did entertain the idea that returning to the Yankees - his first major league team - might not be such a bad move.
But then New York made a move for Lance Berkman, dousing any hope that there would be significant increased playing time with the Yankees. It was a trade that sealed the deal for Lowell, who informed the Red Sox this was going to be a thanks, but no thanks sort of situation.
"It was a surreal moment because I started my career with the Yankees - I was a call-up in ’98 - but I really didn’t want to end my career with the Yankees," he said. "I had learned to love competing against and beating the Yankees. This is what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to go back at that point. I just felt useless. If the Red Sox wanted to trade me to the Yankees there was nothing in store for me.
"I have always had a good relationship with (Yankees general manager) Brian Cashman but I couldn’t talk to him because there is tampering. I was trying to get information through my agent and I said, ‘What role is this?’ At that time I think Alex Rodriguez was going through hip situations himself. They wanted someone who could DH against lefties. It kind of appealed to me that I would play because I just wasn’t playing. I think that night or the next day they acquired Lance Berkman. That’s when I told my agent - I don’t think I told Theo - I would invoke my no-trade. I was not going to the Yankees to sit on the bench. If I was going to sit on the bench I wanted to sit on the bench for the Red Sox."
Lowell went on to finish his career with the Red Sox, getting significant playing time after Youkilis suffered a season-ending injury two days into August. But the sting of that meeting was something the 13-year MLB veteran never shook.
"I do remember the meeting and remember thinking, ‘I didn’t see this coming’," Lowell said. "It hurt. It hurt. No one doesn’t move to not be better. So my thought was , ‘You think your team is better that I’m not better and I go to the Yankees. That hurts.’ But it didn’t materialize and I will say my relationship with Theo as a GM was fantastic."
As for Lowell's take on the Rodriguez situation, he does have some empathy for the pitcher.
"I don’t think you can be mad Eduardo Rodriguez for not wanting to go to the Dodgers because he family was comfortable in Detroit," Lowell said. "That’s why his clause was negotiated, in case he doesn’t want to go somewhere."