The good news: Mike Lowell’s offseason surgery was a success.

The bad news: the procedure did not turn Lowell into a centaur.  I mean, that’s the only way his mobility could actually improve at this stage of his life, right?  No, this was your garden variety thumb ligament surgery, and Lowell will be bringing his 36-year-old human legs and his -15 UZR to Fort Myers in March.

While Lowell was pretty bad defensively in 2009 (his UZR would have been the worst among all regular third baseman had he qualified), he did manage to prove that he could still produce at the plate, even with a bad thumb.  Against left-handed pitching, one might even categorize Lowell’s production as superb: .301/.363/.503.

It is clear that Lowell should not be playing every day, and it is also clear that his optimal usage comes against left-handed pitching.  Which brings us to another corner infielder on the Red Sox roster: first-baseman Casey Kotchman.  The left-handed Kotchman hits slightly better against right-handed pitching, and provides a good glove to go along with sound plate discipline and superb contact skills (Kotchman has only struck out 166 times in 1,871 MLB plate appearances).

There is one major concern I have with such a platoon:

How would Kevin Youkilis respond to the constant shuffling from 3B to 1B?  He seems to be versatile enough to handle such a situation, but in the past we’ve typically seen him playing each position in prolonged stretches (as opposed to switching back and forth throughout the year).  It might be asking a lot of a guy who will be counted on to carry the offense a bit in 2010.

Even considering the risk, this platoon might be a better option than free-agent signing Adrian Beltre to a long term contract to play 3B.  Especially when you consider that the Red Sox might be able to make a mega-trade for a corner infielder at the July deadline.

Odds & Ends:

• Word on the street is that Jason Bay came to an agreement with the Mets on Christmas day, a few days before it was actually announced.  Not exactly a heartwarming holiday tale (for anyone involved).  The huge sum of money must be nice, but it has to be sort of a bummer to be exiled to a 90-loss team in Queens after your top choices walked away from the negotiating table.
• MLBTradeRumors.com sums up the AL East moves to date.  I actually think Tampa Bay has had the best offseason out of the bunch?  Why?  They didn’t panic after underperforming last season, they filled a couple of serious holes behind the plate and in the bullpen without doing anything too drastic.  A good GM will recognize when moves do not need to be made.

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