They'll get three, one less than the number of years Lowell preferred. But the Red Sox were unwilling to move off the three years they initially offered, and were left to wait to see whether Lowell would take their offer, which came in at $37.5 million. His last contract had him at $9 million each of the two years he spent with the Red Sox, a contract he originally signed with the Marlins.
The two sides had a few language issues to work out last night, but the contract was essentially done, the source said. Lowell was given a deadline of yesterday to make up his mind on the contract. There were no extraordinary clauses inserted into the contract, nothing like the weight stipulations in Curt Schilling's deal, but the money did improve slightly from the first version of the contract that he was offered.
The Phillies reportedly were willing to give Lowell a fourth year in a deal worth $50 million, but that wasn't enough to lure him away from Boston.
Before the contract was agreed to yesterday morning, Sox principal owner John Henry spoke with Lowell Sunday, though the conversation was not the deciding factor in Lowell's decision to return.
"How cool is that?" Schilling wrote on his blog yesterday. "Leaving years and dollars on the table to come back here for three more years, good stuff. Pretty nice to think you are fans in a town that is now a desired destination for athletes across the major sports. Come a long way for sure.
"Congrats to Mike and I've already spoken with a few guys on the team and suffice to say we're all ectstatic [sic]."
One of the issues the Red Sox contemplated as they worked through the negotiations was Lowell's age. Not long after Lowell arrives in Fort Myers, Fla., for spring training, he will turn 34, which means the new contract will run until he is 36, a concern for any team.
