| 17 July 2009
According to a source familiar with the situation, the Red Sox have designated Julio Lugo for assignment. The Red Sox will have 10 days to assign Lugo's contract to another major or minor league club, whether it be via trade or through waivers. Lugo is finishing the third of a four-year deal which pays him $10 million per season. Lugo is hitting .284 in 37 games with the Red Sox this season.
I don't know of too many teams that will be willing to pay Lugo's remaining salary, so I expect we will see the Red Sox eat a majority of the contract... again. Here's what John Henry had to say about eating Lugo's contact:
"We will do what is in the best interests of the club...in all matters," Henry wrote in an E-mail today.
Bottom Line: I was kind rooting for Lugo to be this year's Coco Crisp and have a strong second half that eventually got him traded in the offseason. Maybe he will ctahc on somewhere else, but a quick look at the rest of the league doesn't offer many options:
David Eckstein owns the Padres best BA at .267, but he's on the DL and he isn't exactly a top 10 short stop when healthy... Luis Rodriguez has struggled filling in, so Lugo could help in San Diego. Only problem is they have no money and they are out of contention in the NL West after finishing 1.5 games back in 2007.
Baltimore is another team already out of the running, but they could use some help at shirt. Ceasar Izturis is hitting .258 with negative pop in his bat and his back up, Robert Andino, has not played like the solid minor leaguer he was while in the Marlins system. Lugo would bring some AL East experience to the O's offers a better bat than the guys mentioned above.
That's all I can come up with... so we'll just have to wait and see what happens to Julio.
I always enjoyed comparing him to Waluigi from Super Mario Bros., but other than being on the 2007 WS roster, Lugo's time here in Boston was pretty unmemorable.
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