Lowell offers his spin

His knee replaced Monday, the Red Sox manager spent Thanksgiving in the hospital, eating yogurt rather than turkey and dozing off and on through the night, waking up periodically to scan the local stations for updates on a blockbuster deal nearing completion. His excitement level crested yesterday, the day he got up and walked on his new knee with a cane, and the day he at long last heard that a seven-player trade bringing Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Guillermo Mota to Boston had, in fact, been consummated.

''With Beckett, it's amazing," Terry Francona said last night, speaking by phone as he counts down to Monday, when he's expected to check out of Massachusetts General Hospital. ''You wake up in the morning and with the addition of one pitcher it's amazing how you look at your rotation differently. I guarantee you, you talk to [Matt] Clement, Schill [Curt Schilling], Wake [Tim Wakefield], Bronson [Arroyo], they all woke up and felt the same way: 'We're a much-improved staff.'

''This guy is one of the premier arms in the game. For us to get a chance to see him, this is an exciting thing."

Though tentatively reached Monday night, and formalized late Thursday, the possibility of a deal arose Nov. 10 in Indian Wells, Calif., at the general managers' meetings. There, the Marlins approached Sox special assistant to the GM Craig Shipley and director of player development Ben Cherington.

''They talked about what they may be willing to do and said they would be willing to talk about Josh," Shipley said yesterday, on a conference call with special adviser Bill Lajoie, the closest thing the club has to a GM. ''As soon as his name was brought up, it peaked our interest . . . Before we left on Friday [Nov. 12] we had a proposal from them."

Hanley Ramírez, Shipley said, was the player Florida had to have all along, given Alex González's exit via free agency. Lowell, of course, also had to be included, for if Florida was to give up Beckett, surely it had to unload the $18 million its underproducing third baseman is owed over the next two seasons.

He was, at face value, the requisite throw-in, a label Lowell accepts.

''No. 1, I've heard it, no doubt," said Lowell, a native of Puerto Rico who was born to Cuban parents and speaks impeccable Spanish and English. ''No. 2, I understand it, because I think I understand the business a little better than some guys. If you're going to backload a contract and you're coming off your worst year and you're a small-market team, of course you're going to want to dump the salary.

''I don't know if it's so insulting . . . I can't believe the six years prior to last year were a fluke and last year was what I really am."

Lowell, in the five seasons before 2005, hit a collective .280 while averaging 25 homers and 95 RBIs. But last season, he batted just .236 with 8 homers, 58 RBIs, a .298 on-base percentage, and a .360 slugging percentage.

''Physically, there's nothing wrong with Mike," Shipley said. ''Fundamentally, his swing is sound. We expect him to bounce back."

Lowell said he started slowly in 2005 -- he hit .198 in April and .202 with May -- and tinkered too much with his swing, adjusting to the point that he never could rediscover his former mechanics. In August, a contact lens he'd worn in his left (lead) eye broke, and he never found a suitable replacement. He's since visited an eye institute in Miami, and intends to have a full set of lenses in hand before next season.

Lowell did win a Gold Glove, a testament to how superlative his fielding must have been. At .236, he posted the lowest average of any National League third baseman ever to win the league's Gold Glove.

''I felt there were a lot of times I didn't drive in runs when I could have or I should have," he said. ''I felt I had to keep runs from coming in. I was very satisfied with the fact that I could separate the two."

Francona, who managed against Lowell in the NL East in 1999 and 2000, said professionalism has long been Lowell's hallmark attribute.

''We feel in our ballpark he's going to do some damage offensively, and when he doesn't he'll be a tremendous third baseman," Francona said. ''He's real professional. Everyone who comes in contact with him comes away saying the same thing."

Sounds a lot like the former third baseman . . .

''If you're asking if I care about Bill Mueller, you're exactly right," Francona said. ''The interest [across baseball] in Bill Mueller was going to be that he probably was going to end up signing with someone else anyway. He's a good player deserving of a multiyear deal. I don't think the door's ever shut."

Translation: Had the Sox not dealt for Lowell, Mueller likely would have been tendered a one-year offer and have chosen to sign elsewhere for better terms, potentially leaving the job to Kevin Youkilis. This move, of course, leaves Youkilis in a position he's used to: utter uncertainty.

Lajoie said Youkilis's ability to play either corner infield position and DH ''will probably enable him to have more playing time than it did last year," when Youkilis hit .278 with just 79 at-bats, after getting 208 ABs as a rookie in 2004.

Lajoie, when asked which holes the club still must plug this offseason, mentioned the desire for a lefthanded-hitting first baseman, suggesting the team might platoon Youkilis at the position.

Another hole, Lajoie said, ''would be at second base, where there is one player who has been a regular in [Alex] Cora but who may be better suited as a utility player. That's yet to be determined."

Former GM Theo Epstein was known to be especially high on prospect Dustin Pedroia, and, before Epstein departed, the team was believed to be prepared to enter spring training with the unproven Pedroia and Cora as a second base tandem.

Lajoie lastly mentioned the need for a righthanded-hitting fourth outfielder. Shipley then cut in, adding, ''I think we'd like to get deeper in the bullpen."

Mota becomes the first reinforcement. A heralded setup man with the Dodgers in 2003 and half of 2004, the 32-year-old Dominican has been average since joining the Marlins in the deal that sent Paul Lo Duca to Florida and Brad Penny and Hee Seop Choi to Los Angeles in July 2004.

Mota, in 128 appearances (168 innings) setting up Eric Gagne in LA in 2003 and the first half of 2004, was 14-7 with a 2.04 ERA, 151 strikeouts, 53 walks, and 11 homers allowed. In 82 appearances since with Florida (100 2/3 innings) Mota is just 3-6 with a 4.74 ERA, 93 Ks, 42 walks, and nine homers allowed.

''His confidence was hurt a little in April [2005] because he was slated to be our closer," Lowell said. ''He got off to a slow start, got hurt, was on the shelf."

Mota missed a month with shoulder inflammation and lost the right to pitch the ninth inning to Todd Jones.

''Todd Jones was lights out," Lowell said. ''[Mota] was disheartened."

Mota, by all accounts can still throw in the neighborhood of 95 with a changeup and slider.

''Last year wasn't as good as '03 and '04, but there's nothing wrong with his arm," Lajoie said. ''The velocity is there."

The Sox' baseball operations department also appears to still have its fastball, even without Epstein. A GM hiring? That doesn't sound close. Lajoie, when asked about the search, chose instead to emphasize the current group effort.

''There's been a great deal of experience gained here in the last couple of weeks with Craig and Ben and Jed [Hoyer], so we haven't had a problem," Lajoie said. ''So while it does take a little time when you're dealing with seven people rather than four . . . I'm ecstatic about the way we've all been contributing to whatever we do."