in case you think i've forgotten...

SIGN
MIKE
LOWELL

yesterday afternoon, on Around the Horn, Jackie Mac said something that i must paraphrase:
You over paid for JD Drew. You overpaid for Julio Lugo. [actually, she might have said Matsuzaka, but my brain heard Lugo, and i'm not absolutely who the second person was that she named, but there was Drew & someone else, and we definitely overpaid for Lugo. anyway.] Now it's time to overpay for someone who actually earned it.

it's true. Slappy's decision to opt out of the Bronx upped the going price for third base contracts. Mike Lowell's included. it means other teams -- like the *Yankees* -- will be willing to offer Lowell flashier contracts. and the thing is, it's not like he doesn't deserve it!

wake up, Theo. Lowell wants a reasonable, respectful contract to finish it up in Boston. BlueLips & Boras want something like ten to twelve years! a contract that amounts to somewhere around $300 million! if you want to argue that you don't like signing players over 35 for long contracts, just remember how old ARod will be by the time this contract winds down (he is currently 32 to Lowell's 33) -- and that no one is going to want to take him off your hands in three or four years, when Lowell's *new* contract (hint, hint) will be expiring, to make room for whatever homegrown star he will have helped to mentor.

i've got plenty of pens i would be willing to give you, Epstein. let's get this thing inked.