According to Peter Abraham at Boston.com a major league source has said that Mike Lowell has failed his physical to finalize the trade to the Texas Rangers.
According to a major league source, the third baseman needs surgery on the radial collateral ligament in his right thumb and the trade to Texas that was agreed upon 11 days ago is off.
His surgery will be after Christmas and recovery will take 6-8 weeks. That would have him ready just in time for spring training. This ends most pursuits the Red Sox were thought to have been looking into. We’ll have to wait and see how his health is in February, but this likely adds some potential to see Jed Lowrie in 2010 with the Red Sox.
Other options include moving Marco Scutaro over and letting Lowrie play SS or using Tug Hulett at either spot. Using Lowrie looks like the best option although he’s been just as likely to be injured as Lowell.