FORT MYERS, Fla. -- It's only a few days before the first pitch of the baseball season and Mike Lowell is still a member of the Red Sox. And when Josh Beckett tosses that initial offering Sunday night the strong likelihood is that Lowell will still be with the team.

Surprised? Some were, but one wasn't -- the man who is replacing Lowell in the starting lineup, Adrian Beltre.

"Not really," said Beltre when asked if he would have thought when spring training began that he would be on the same roster as Lowell when April rolled around. 

"It's not easy to trade somebody in spring training. You don't see that a lot. I had an idea that we would start the season together with this team, and whatever happens from there happens. The main thing was for him to get healthy and whatever happens happens. I wish Mike the best."

Major League sources suggested that the trade market is barren for Lowell right now, with the most active suitor, the Texas Rangers, showing reluctance to allocate any substantial amount of money for a player who would be filling a part-time role.

Another issue standing in the way of Lowell finding a new home was his relative limited number of spring training at-bats. Wednesday he served his situation well, hitting two doubles to give him five hits in 17 spring training at-bats.

Still, no matter how productive Lowell turns out to be in the spring's final week, Beltre is starting at third and Kevin Youkilis will be the Sox' first baseman.

It could have been 1 1/2 months of awkwardness. But as Beltre points out, the dynamic never offered any kind of roadblock.

"Of course I didn't feel great about it. I knew it was going to be tough to come in with the situation we were both put in, and especially him," Beltre said. "We both knew the situation and when I got here we talked to know what the situation was and it wasn't an awkward situation."

The situation was initially defused at the Red Sox' minor league training facility when Beltre and Lowell took the first few days of spring training to get "everything clear."

Then, when they arrived at City of Palms Park, a surprise showed itself. Beltre and Lowell had lockers right next to each other. Was it by design, or just merely an organizational coincidence?

"I don't know, but I like it," Beltre said. "He's a guy you can learn a lot from. I'm really surprised that somebody can handle this type of situation the way he does. Knowing that I don't think there's any problem with us being so close. I like being next to him."

There were no cold shoulders, dirty looks, or confrontations. Instead the clubhouse scene offered moments of the two sitting in front of their lockers talking baseball, or eating together at one of the room's dining areas.

And when they were on the field, taking turns fielding grounders off the fungo bats of various Red Sox' coaches, Beltre and Lowell would regularly be seen joking and trading advice.

It all allowed for one giant exhale from many in the Red Sox organization.

"Being in the league for a while you have an idea, talking to other guys, how guys are. Pretty much in the big leagues who's who and how they act and what kind of guys they are. I had an idea that Mike was like that, but I didn't know he was quite the gentleman that he is," Beltre explained. "I can take every aspect of Mike, his intelligence, the way he carries himself on and off the baseball field. 

"One of the things as a player I try and learn from him is the way he doesn't panic. It's something I've had to learn throughout the years in the big leagues and I'm still working on it. Sometimes I'm a guy who is a little too hyper. I see that Mike plays differently. He doesn't panic. It's one of the things that makes you better defensively because if you don't panic it means you have everything under control. That's something he does very well.

"Sometimes there are a lot of players who are hyper, and that works for them, like Jose Reyes and those guys. But mainly playing defense something I always admire from him that no matter the situation he doesn't panic, and that's why he's been so good for so long."

The pair of players understand a new challenge awaits one the regular season. No longer will Lowell be regularly integrated into the rotation of corner infielders, and with the decreased playing time will come added frustrations.

But, for now, Beltre and Lowell have overcome the initial wave of uneasiness, an accomplishment many believed might not be possible.

"I know Mike wants to play because he still can play, there's no doubt about that," Beltre said. "And I want to play, so this is the situation we are in and we'll see what happens."