5 Teams That Could Use Brandon Lowe’s Bat the Most
Many teams could use an upgrade at second base this winter. How about one of the game's best power hitters at the position in Brandon Lowe?
| | 
Stop me if you have heard this one before: Brandon Lowe‘s name is coming up in trade rumors.
Year after year, we get the report that the Tampa Bay Rays are “shopping” or “actively listening” on their left-handed hitting second baseman, and this year’s Winter Meetings are no different. Now, as Lowe enters the final year of the six-year, $24 million pre-arbitration extension that he signed back in 2019, a move feels far more possible as we inch closer to the new year.
After opting in to the $11.5 million club option, the Rays have been fielding calls on Lowe at the Winter Meetings, and, to the surprise of a few, interested teams are looking to try and pry him out of Tampa. This offseason, more than any other, the second base market has been hot from the start.
I don’t see it as a stretch to say that Lowe is one of the best players to ever put on a Rays uniform. He currently ranks second in team history in slugging, third in home runs, fourth in OPS, and eighth in both hits and walks.
Lowe is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, where, in 134 games, he hit .256/.307/.477 with 31 home runs, 83 RBI, a 114 wRC+, and 1.7 fWAR. To this point, he has a career slash line of .247/.326/.481 and has accumulated 16.9 fWAR since his debut back in 2018.
While he has predominantly played second base in his career, he has shown some defensive versatility, having logged over 150 innings at first base and both outfield corners. Though the true value comes from what he can provide at the plate, as proven by the -13 Outs Above Average in 2025.
Durability has been one glaring issue that has seemed to plague him in his career. He has only played in 100 or more games four times in his career. The 134 he appeared in last year was his career-high in his age-30 season. Though, as I mentioned previously, with his bat being what teams are going to be keen on, he has hit more than 20 home runs in each of those four seasons.
With the need for offense at the second base position being a league-wide issue that teams are looking to improve on, there are going to be teams willing to look past that to improve their rosters and get them over the hump.
Which Teams Should Trade for Brandon Lowe?
Boston Red Sox
Earlier, I mentioned how the second base market has been hot to start the offseason. That, in large part, is due to the fact that the Diamondbacks and Ketel Marte are seemingly headed towards a split, and the Red Sox are said to be one of the teams that have called Arizona.
With Boston looking to improve at second base, if they fall short of the Marte sweepstakes, the division rival Rays should be their next phone call in hopes of being able to pry them off Brandon Lowe.
While the bat in the lineup would surely be a huge plus for the Red Sox, the defensive benefit that it would bring, allowing them to lock in Gold Glover Ceddanne Rafaela in center field every day, should bring even more intrigue.
The trade for either Marte or Lowe is surely linked to Craig Breslow’s decision as to whether he’d like to bring Alex Bregman back. Resigning him would likely mean Marcelo Mayer would move primarily to second base, but if Bregman were to move on from Boston, improving the second base position via the trade market would be a boost to a team looking to improve on their Wild Card exit in 2025.
Cincinnati Reds
All reports indicated that the Cincinnati Reds were hot and heavy on Kyle Schwarber, offering him a contract to come back to his hometown, north of $100 million.
Putting aside the reports that followed about them only being in on Schwarber because of the thought it would improve ticket sales, this front office should look to invest in this roster that saw them make the postseason for the first time in a full season since 2013.
The Reds are also said to be kicking the tires on the Ketel Marte market, but their unwillingness to part with some of their top prospects will likely leave them amongst the other teams who would fall short.
The Lowe fit in the Reds lineup seems perfect. While his defense falls well short of Matt McLain, whose 77 wRC+ fell well-below expectations heading into 2025, the offense is much-needed if they are going to want to win a postseason game in the upcoming season.
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates started this offseason off by being in the rumors surrounding having “interest” in offering a contract to Josh Naylor and being in pursuit of Schwarber before both of them inevitably ended up back in the organizations they were a part of last season.
As they continue to look to build around their Face of the Franchise, Paul Skenes, ownership and the front office have continued to stay in the news surrounding making acquisitions, the latest being that they are one of the teams that have been calling the Rays for Lowe.
The Pirates are coming off a season where they ranked last in baseball in home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS. No, that’s not just specifically at the second base position.
The current lineup needs some left-handed offense, which was stated openly by the organization when they listed what they were looking to add this offseason. Their willingness to seemingly spend money is a definite sight for sore eyes for ALL fans of the game. Luckily for them, given their past, Lowe’s $11.5m salary for the 2026 season is an affordable number that should 1) fill a need and 2) allow for them to still have money to continue to add.
San Francisco Giants
The need for an upgrade at second base for the Giants is long overdue. They likely wouldn’t have the capital to acquire Marte, even if the Diamondbacks were willing to move him in-division, so a pivot to Brandon Lowe seems ideal.
President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey is no stranger to being an aggressor on the trade market, as shown by the Rafael Devers deal during the season. Not only are the Giants looking to get back into the postseason, but they are lacking overall thump in their lineup. Evident by Willy Adames being the first Giant to hit 30 home runs since Barry Bonds.
Much like the Reds, the Giants’ current second baseman on the roster is a good defender, but neither is going to help the team hit their way to wins late in games. Lowe has the potential to get Posey’s Giants back into the playoffs.
Seattle Mariners
Ah, the Seattle Mariners.
Coming off an incredible 2025, Seattle is looking to make a splash to get them over the hump and represent the American League in next season’s World Series. Evident by them also being mentioned in rumors surrounding the DBacks’ second baseman.
The M’s were heavy beneficiaries of a big bounce-back season from Jorge Polanco and the onslaught that MVP-runner-up Cal Raleigh had for them. Midseason acquisitions of Naylor and Eugenio Suarez were also indicators that they knew they were missing something in the lineup, and that has not changed this offseason.
They were able to retain Naylor almost immediately, but Polanco is still out there on the market, which leaves the position solely to rookie Cole Young. Their belief in whether Young is a future part of their roster should not be the deciding factor in whether they should look to make a trade for Brandon Lowe.
This is a team that still needs an offensive boost for the 2026 season, and adding another 20+ home run bat from the second base position should surely help them retain the AL West crown and finish the job come the end of the 2026 postseason.
Written by
Cristian has been at Just Baseball since 2021, when he first started writing about prospects. He spent eight years working in Major League Baseball with the…