Saturday, December 04, 2010

Adrian Gonzalez Bolts From NL West; Beltre Now On The Block?

I was excited enough to hear that a formidable slugger from a NL West rival is leaving for the AL--but the potential to pick up Adrian Beltre makes this even more salivating:

The Boston Red Sox have agreed to a deal in principle to acquire slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney on Saturday morning.

The team flew in Gonzalez, who had surgery Oct. 20 on his right, non-throwing shoulder to clean up the labrum, for a physical examination Saturday. While there was no official word on the physical, a team source told ESPNBoston.com's Joe McDonald that Gonzalez "looked good."

The Red Sox continued Saturday night to work on a long-term contract with him, a source, who indicated that the negotiation window will close at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes.

In exchange, the Padres would receive three prospects in pitcher Casey Kelly, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and outfielder Reymond Fuentes, according to a baseball source. The Padres also would receive a player to be named later, a source told Edes.

"He's at the peak and prime of his career, which is going to be great," said Padres first-base coach Dave Roberts, a former Red Sox player and teammate of Gonzalez in San Diego. "I've talked to him numerous times about my experience in Boston, and I knew if this opportunity did present itself, he would be very excited to be a Red Sox. I think a lot of him as a player and as a person. Boston is going to be an amazing experience for him." [...]

Sources told Olney it's very possible the Gonzalez deal would mean the end of Adrian Beltre's time with the Red Sox, because although Kevin Youkilis could move to left field, Boston's preference probably would be to shift Youkilis to third base.

I guess Boston might be over its Adrian quota? Fine with me, so long as we can pick up Beltre...

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