Rangers reportedly still interested in Mike Lowell

According to Jim Reeves of ESPNDallas.com the Rangers are “scouring other camps to try to find that right-handed hitting role player ... to fill the role of backup first baseman/third baseman” and “keep coming back to” Mike Lowell. Reeves quotes a “club source” as saying that the Rangers “believe they can still basically get Lowell for the player they were willing to give up over the winter, Max Ramirez.” The deal that would have sent Lowell and $9 million from Boston to Texas for Ramirez was nixed when a pre-trade physical exam revealed that he needed thumb surgery. Lowell also has hip problems and is currently sidelined by a bruised knee, so the Rangers are also said to be monitoring veterans like Kevin Millar, Fernando Tatis, and Wes Helms for the same backup/platoon job. At the time of the initial trade they hadn’t yet signed Vladimir Guerrero, so Lowell likely would have been in line for a more prominent role.