After a busy meeting between the general managers of the MLB teams, the Marlins have a clearer understanding of where they stand with respect to trading Mike Lowell.
Owed $9 million each of the next two seasons, Lowell is tradable if the Marlins are willing to absorb some of the remaining dollars. According to a front office official who has spoken with the Marlins, they had "a few hits" on Lowell this past week.
It comes down to how much is the team willing to pay for Lowell to start at third for another club. One team presented the scenario in which the Marlins will need to pick up half of Lowell's salary in order to make a trade feasible.
So, $9 million to send Lowell elsewhere, while also taking into account that the organization is considering buying out the arbitration years of Willis and Beckett. This leads one to believe that Delgado will also have to be traded, for all of this to happen, with the possibility that the Marlins will have to pay for part of his salary to play for someone else. Not to mention Pierre and Lo Duca may also have to be moved in order for it all to be attainable under the team's desired lower payroll. The teams highest payroll commitments for the next few years could be to former players.
I am liking this off-season less and less as it goes on.
One good note: the Marlins have released their 2006 Spring Training Schedule. For those of you who are lucky enough to catch the fun of spring training, start making plans. It helps the winter go by just a little faster.