Mike Lowell

Speaking after going 1-for-5 in his rehab stint with the Pawtucket Red Sox, Thursday night at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Red Sox infielder Mike Lowell said that he doesn’t plan to wait until the end of the season to determine if he is going to retire and will make his decision in September. Lowell also said that the time he recently spent at home in Miami with his family “helped” in the decision-making process.

“I’ll let you know in September,” Lowell said when asked if he would wait until the end of the season to make his decision.

“I think those days in Miami I got a nice glimpse of what it would be with my family and it made me really excited for that part of my life. I’m just not totally sold at this point saying, ‘Yes, this is what’s going to happen after the last game this year,’ or ‘No.’ And the good thing I don’t need to. But yeah I think it’s only normal that it’s a major consideration. For sure.

“It didn’t deter me. If anything it helped. I enjoyed it. I think if I felt my kids were driving me crazy and I didn’t like being at home things would be different, but I really enjoyed being with my wife and kids with no agenda.”

Lowell said when meeting with reporters on April 10 that the 2010 season was “probably” his last year. (Click here for his comments.)

As for a potential trade, the Rangers have been confirmed as monitoring the infielder’s status, although they didn’t have a scout in attendance for Thursday night’s game at McCoy Stadium. (Teams represented by scouts in the PawSox’ game against Toledo were Baltimore, Toronto, Kansas City, and Detroit, which had two.)

The 36-year-old, who is currently on the 15-day disabled list (hip), said prior to his outing with the PawSox Thursday night that he plans on playing five games in seven days, finishing with the the PawSox after their second game in Toledo (July 28).

“If I can’t move around, I’ll probably just walk from Toledo to Miami. It’s going to be a pretty easy assessment for me after Toledo,” Lowell said. “I love you guys, but I’m not going to be here 20 days. It’ll cost me too much money. You know how many spreads that is?

“I’m looking like I’m going to be healthy and I’m going to be activated one way or the other. If I’m healthy, I feel like I should be activated. It would be ridiculous point to have a cortisone shot, do a rehab assignment, feel good and not be activated. I don’t think there’s any point in that.”

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