brooklyndodgermemories

A baseball source told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that the Red Sox have talked to the New York Mets about a possible Lowell-for-Luis Castillo trade. But there are several obstacles to the deal, and it's uncertain how motivated either team would be to make it happen.

Lowell would have to move to first base in New York, because David Wright is already entrenched at the hot corner in Flushing.




By moving Castillo, the Mets would be free to make a play for free-agent second baseman Orlando Hudson. But Castillo has played all 1,609 of his career games at second base, and Boston already has an All-Star second baseman in Dustin Pedroia. The trade probably wouldn't work for the Red Sox unless they were able to flip Castillo to a third club.

That trade makes no sense for the Red Sox unless they already have a deal in mind to ship Castillo to another team. The Mets would have to know they could sign Hudson,and that Lowell would switch to first. Doesn't sound very doable to me.

Lowell has stated he would work his butt off to become a gold--glove 1st baseman.

He's a good bat and was a good 3rd baseman so I wouldn't mind having him at 1st base.

Epstein always has a handle on the long germ as well as the short term.

A long germ is dangerous (H1N1).

Boy my spelling sucks recently. I should never type after a few Schaefer's.

Contract negotiations between the Boston Red Sox and right-hander Josh Beckett have progressed to the point that there is optimism a deal will be completed in the next week or two, sources close to Beckett told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

Beckett, the sources said, has a four-year, guaranteed offer from Boston on the table. His deal could be along the lines of the free-agent contract John Lackey signed with the Red Sox this winter -- $16.5 million a year for five years -- in terms of annual salary. It could be worth a total package in the range of $65 million to $70 million, sources said.

A source with knowledge of the negotiations told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes that the Red Sox would not go to a fifth year in their talks with Beckett.

The three-year, $30 million extension Beckett signed in 2006 expires at the end of the season. He is coming off a 17-win season and has won 65 games in his four seasons in Boston.

The 30-year-old Beckett is scheduled to pitch Major League Baseball's regular-season opener Sunday night at Fenway Park against the New York Yankees.

So ox look with opening day just a few days away?

A baseball source said Wednesday that talks between the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers over infielder Mike Lowell have accelerated and a trade remained a possibility.

But as of Wednesday night, no deal had been reached, with the amount of Lowell's salary the Red Sox are willing to eat the likely sticking point.

Earlier in the day, a source close to negotiations between the Red Sox and Rangers, the team that has shown the most interest in Lowell's services, had expressed optimism that the sides were drawing closer.

I would think that Lowell would have to be moved, there isn't any room for him.

If you're struggling to stifle yawns and stay focused the morning after watching the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox play another 4-hour marathon, umpire Joe West feels your pain.

Before Wednesday night's game -- which, took 3 hours, 48 minutes to play -- West called the AL East rivals "embarrassing" and "a disgrace to baseball" for slowing the pace of their games to a crawl, according to the Bergen (N.J.) Record.

"They're the two clubs that don't try to pick up the pace," said West, the chief of the umpiring crew working the three-game series, according to the report. "They're two of the best teams in baseball. Why are they playing the slowest?

"It's pathetic and embarrassing. They take too long to play," he said, according to the report.

During Tuesday night's game, which went 3:46, home plate umpire Angel Hernandez denied a number of requested time outs in the batter's box. West did not allow Hernandez to comment, according to the report.

"All of baseball looks to these two clubs to pick up the pace," West said, according to the report. "[Hernandez] did everything he could. The players aren't working with us."

David Ortiz has struck out 6 times in his last 8 at bats. He's hitting .136

The Red Sox took a gamble on keeping Ortiz as their DH, so far it hasn't panned out. Maybe he needs to visit Barry Bonds for some advice.