Beltre agrees to terms with Red Sox

[madinmaryland]

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/01/05/beltre_and_red_sox_agree_to_one_year_deal_with_player_option/

Even though they failed to trade Mike Lowell, that didn’t prevent the Red Sox from picking up their next third baseman. According to a baseball source, Adrian Beltre has agreed to terms with the Sox on a one-year deal, with a player option for a second year, to take over the starting job.

Beltre’s decision came down to a couple of West Coast teams (reportedly the Angels and A’s) and the Sox, but Boston won out at a price far lower than agent Scott Boras had anticipated at the start of the offseason. Peter Gammons of the MLB Network reported the contract was for $9 million, with the option worth $5 million. It also has been reported there is a $1 million buyout of the deal. The contract is contingent on a physical.

Boras proved prescient at the winter meetings on the subject of the Sox and Beltre when he said, “I think in infield play that there are certain third basemen that certain clubs want to move or transfer from another position, and that creates opportunities for Adrian.’’

Despite general manager Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona’s insistence that the team would be comfortable entering the season with Casey Kotchman as the first baseman, that won’t come to pass, as Kevin Youkilis will stay at first. The Sox instead went out and added the best third baseman on the market, picking up a player who hit 48 home runs with the Dodgers in 2004. However, he never has hit more than 26 homers in any other season.

..snip

[hughee99]

1. Ug, at least it's only a 1 year deal.

I'm not a fan of Beltre, and he's a 9 million dollar player the same way that Lugo and Renteria were 10 million dollar players. Lowell will still be gone next season, they'll redo the trade before spring training once his thumb heals and he passes the physical. Mid-season they'll go hard after Adrian Gonzalez again, who SD's new GM can't trade right now but probably can once the Padres suck eggs again next season.