Monday, January 04, 2010

Red Sox Finally Sign A Former Dodger We Actually Liked

And I mean, we liked him at the time that he left us, which is more than can be said for J.D. Drew, Brad Penny, Julio Lugo, and a SoSG pseudonym that I won't name here. Adrian Beltre signs with the Red Sox for one year, $10M:

Free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre has reached tentative agreement on a one-year, guaranteed, $10 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, multiple sources have told ESPN.com and ESPNBoston.com.

The deal will pay Beltre a base salary of $9 million in 2010. It includes a $5 million player option for 2011 and a $1 million buyout, and is contingent upon Beltre passing a physical exam, the sources said.

A source told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes last week that even after the Mike Lowell trade with Texas was nullified by the Rangers, the Red Sox had quietly continued their pursuit of Beltre through agent Scott Boras.

The Orioles and Angels were also thought to be interested in Beltre.

Beard Mode lives on in Los Angeles (which is fine by me)!

UPDATE 10:15p: SoSG reader Dusty Baker reminded me that we liked Dave Roberts too, which is true. However, Dave Roberts then became a Giant, which we didn't like as much.

Which gives me a good segueway to mention that the Red Sox' signing of Beltre at least prevents Beltre from joining the Giants, who are in the hunt for a third baseman (Pablo KFP Sandoval played 120 games at first but also 24 games at 3B, third-most at this position behind Travis Ishikawa (OPS+ of 86) and Ryan "Donnie" Garko):

But make no mistake: Signing Beltre is a steal for the Red Sox, and with the number of teams looking for a third baseman -- the Orioles, Angels, Athletics, Giants and Twins, to name a few -- it's startling that no one else was willing to cough up a few more bucks than the Sox did. Shoot, if he hadn't come as cheap as he did, the Sox were prepared to start the 2010 season with Kevin Youkilis at third and Casey Kotchman at first.

Beltre in Halloween colors would have been stomach-turning. Thanks, Mr. Epstein.

5 comments:

All Star Carpet Care said...

Check out TMZ. Rihanna & Kemp

Jason said...

Looks like the Red Sox got their Christmas gift a little late this year.

Kyle Baker said...

We liked Dave Roberts, too.

Steve Sax said...

True true, Dave Roberts was on the good side. He was "scrappy"! Except he became a Giant.

Kyle Baker said...

Then we hated him. Then he went to San Diego, and we were indifferent.

The only inside the park HR I've ever seen in person was hit by Roberts at Dodger Stadium, so I appreciate that memory he left me with.