Rob Rains of The St. Louis Globe Democrat suggests that the Cardinals should have Boston’s Mike Lowell on their “Plan B” list in the event that rookie third baseman David Freese cannot handle the team’s everyday third base duties.

Lowell expects the the Red Sox to trade him before the regular season since the team already has Adrian Beltre inked in as the starter at third base.

“If I was on the trading block before, I can’t imagine all of a sudden I’m not now,” Lowell said. “I think my health is something I obviously something I need to show, not only the Red Sox but every other team. If that opens the door to something else, I’ll go wherever I go, or stay wherever I stay.”

“I think I’m pretty intelligent in the sense that there’s no real playing time for me here, barring a major injury, and I’m not really in the business of hoping somebody gets hurt just so I can get some at-bats,” Lowell said.

Lowell was originally going to be traded to the Texas Rangers, but was called off after doctors discovered the ligament tear in his thumb.  Lowell is in his last year of a three-year contract.  He’s expected to make $12 million.  Part of the deal with the Rangers was that the Red Sox were going to pick up $9 million of the $12 million salary, so it would be a low risk for the Cardinals to get a quality third baseman. You can see Lowell’s contract history and statistics here.