Red Sox Have Decision To Make With Lowell

By Dave Sheinin and Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, October 29, 2007

DENVER, Oct. 28 -- Watching the jubilation on the field, a sizable contingent of Boston Red Sox fans made their voices heard, and loudly, Sunday night following a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies in Game 4 of the World Series, clinching Boston's second championship in four years.

The chants, in order: "Re-sign Lowell! Re-sign Lowell!" Followed, in short order, by "A-Rod [stinks]!"

The one event that threatened to steal from the Sox' victory was that super-agent Scott Boras announced Sunday night that his most high-profile client, Alex Rodriguez, would opt out of his contract with the New York Yankees and thus would become a free agent. That led to immediate speculation that Rodriguez could end up in Boston, where he would be a replacement for free agent-to be Mike Lowell.

The problem: Lowell, who doubled and scored on a nifty slide and hit a solo homer in Game 4, was named the Series MVP. The fans' sentiments also come in support of his superlative defense and 120-RBI season.

"I'm on cloud nine," Lowell said. "It's unbelievable."

Lowell finished the World Series 6 for 15 (.400) with three doubles and a homer and drove in four runs. He is credited with being a steadying influence in the clubhouse, even as a huge lead in the American League East dwindled in September.

"We knew if we just kept playing the baseball that we know we can play, we'll be all right," Lowell said. "It proved to be true all the way throughout the end of September and to each round of the playoffs and the World Series."

Homegrown Product

Dustin Pedroia was a prospect toiling away in the developmental Arizona Fall League the last time the Boston Red Sox won the World Series. The 2004 Red Sox had virtually no homegrown players then, only veterans acquired from elsewhere, but there was a mandate within the organization to change that in future years.

Now, Pedroia is one of the top examples of how that mandate has paid off. The 24-year-old second baseman -- and leading candidate for American League rookie of the year -- has been a key part of the Red Sox' success this postseason.

"I got drafted the year they won the World Series," Pedroia said before Sunday night's game, "so I know that year was a special time for them. Once I got up here [to the majors] last August, that's been my mind-set. I wanted to win a World Series like they did."

Pedroia, who is generously listed as being 5 feet 9 and 180 pounds, wound up tied for second on the team in hits (five) and RBI (four) in the World Series, and he accounted for one of the Red Sox' three home runs of the series, a solo shot leading off Game 1.

Asked how many times he had been told by coaches and other people that he could never succeed as a baseball player because of his size, Pedroia said: "Not really [by] coaches. Once I go out there and play, I think coaches kind of like me. But you always hear that stuff from outsiders -- fans, media or guys you play against. They always doubt you."

Compared to Yankees?

Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein had this to say about the parallels that have been drawn between his franchise and that of the New York Yankees:

"Anytime someone compares you to the Yankees, based on winning, it's a huge compliment, because they've been the model for winning championships throughout the history of baseball. And we have great resources like the Yankees do, so people obviously are going to make that parallel. [But] we feel we're positioned a little differently, because we don't quite have the resources they do.

"It's a fair comparison, but I don't buy into it, because I know that we have our own way of going about things and they have their own way. We can probably learn a lot from them, and maybe vice versa in some small areas. But we have a philosophy . . . and a lot of great people worked hard to execute it. It's the Red Sox way of doing things."

A Good Direction

Had the Rockies not won 13 of their last 14 regular season games, they would not have even qualified for a one-game playoff to get into the postseason, much less ended up with a National League pennant. But the postseason run has not altered the club's feeling about itself or the direction it's headed.

"You can certainly under-evaluate or over-evaluate what happens in one series," Rockies General Manager Dan O'Dowd said. "But I don't think you can discredit what a player's done the whole year."

The postseason appearance, the second in franchise history, has brought more revenue to the franchise, which had a $54 million payroll this season. O'Dowd said it was too early to predict what it might be next year. Though the only regulars who are free agents are second baseman Kazuo Matsui and catcher Yorvit Torrealba, they could negotiate a long-term deal with arbitration-eligible Matt Holliday, who made $4.4 million this year but could be the NL MVP.

O'Dowd said he expects to keep the core together -- next year. But "the core of the club is going to continue to get expensive," he said, and it's again too early to speculate as to whether the best hitters -- Holliday, third baseman Garrett Atkins and right fielder Brad Hawpe -- will all be affordable in the future.

Still, the Rockies got here by developing their farm system, and O'Dowd said that even if the postseason experience seasons his team, he doesn't believe it fundamentally changes its course.

"We'll have to see how they react coming into spring training next year," O'Dowd said. "We had an organizational meeting in September where we had a real good feeling on our club. I don't think we're going to change what we're doing."

Final Word

O'Dowd, on the difference in the series: "They've made the plays, we haven't. They've gotten the hits that we haven't. They've gotten pitchers deep in the game, we haven't. They've got shut-down innings out of the bullpen, we haven't."