A year after losing out on free agent Mark Teixeira, the Boston Red Sox landed their own impact first baseman -- acquiring Adrian Gonzalez from the San Diego Padres.
The Red Sox will ship minor leaguers -- outfielder Reymond Fuentes, right-handed pitcher Casey Kelly and first baseman Anthony Rizzo -- and a player to be named later to San Diego.
The Padres admitted that they couldn't afford to re-sign Gonzalez after his contract expires at the end of the season. The Red Sox had been trying to negotiate an extension but went ahead with the deal without a long-term contract in place.
San Diego gets some of Boston's top prospects. Padres general manager Jed Hoyer was familiar with the Red Sox's farm system since he worked under Theo Epstein in Boston for years.
Gonzalez is a three-time All-Star who hit .298 with 31 homers and 101 RBIs last season.
The New York Yankees outbid the Red Sox for Teixeira last season. He agreed to an eight-year, $180 million deal that has been mentioned as the neighborhood Gonzalez would like to end up in.While the first order of business for the Red Sox is taking place on Yawkey Way, where a jubilant Theo Epstein is presenting new slugger Adrian Gonzalez at a morning press conference, the punch list doesn't stop there as baseball’s winter meetings get underway.
The Sox will continue to explore adding another bat to the outfield. Jayson Werth would have been a great fit, but the Washington Nationals vaporized that idea when they gave him a seven-year, $126 million contract on Sunday.
The ripple effect of the Werth signing? The other prime outfielder on the free-agent market, Carl Crawford, may now command a price that knocks the Sox from any realistic chance of signing him. Crawford reportedly is seeking an eight-year deal, a term of service the Sox are most likely unwilling to meet, especially at $20 million per.
Expect the Sox to explore trade options for a righthanded hitting left fielder. Jayson Stark of ESPN.com floated a very interesting name: Josh Willingham, whom the Sox have always liked. Willingham, who played the last two seasons for the Washington Nationals after breaking in with the Florida Marlins, is a year away from free agency and because he is arbitration eligible, can expect a substantial raise on the $4.6 million he was paid last season.
Used primarily as a platoon player by Washington, Willingham posted a .264/.384/.446/.830 line against lefties last season. He turns 32 in February. With the Nationals making such a sizable investment in Werth, expect the Red Sox to make some inquiries. It's not impossible they could start the season with the four outfielders they have -- J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ryan Kalish and Mike Cameron -- but it's more likely they'll add to the mix.
The Sox did not exercise Bill Hall's option after the season, though at the time they said they might have interest in bringing him back. The Sox have not engaged his agent, Terry Bross, in further conversations, Bross said Monday, and interest in Hall from other clubs has picked up in the last 48 hours, he said.
And for Sox fans entertaining the fantasy of the team making a stealth strike for free-agent pitcher Cliff Lee, that's exactly what it is, a fantasy.
"We're not going to do that,'' a club source said. "We're pretty set with our [starting] pitching.''
Recasting the bullpen remains the team's other prime order of business.
The Sox will continue to explore adding another bat to the outfield. Jayson Werth would have been a great fit, but the Washington Nationals vaporized that idea when they gave him a seven-year, $126 million contract on Sunday.
The ripple effect of the Werth signing? The other prime outfielder on the free-agent market, Carl Crawford, may now command a price that knocks the Sox from any realistic chance of signing him. Crawford reportedly is seeking an eight-year deal, a term of service the Sox are most likely unwilling to meet, especially at $20 million per.
Expect the Sox to explore trade options for a righthanded hitting left fielder. Jayson Stark of ESPN.com floated a very interesting name: Josh Willingham, whom the Sox have always liked. Willingham, who played the last two seasons for the Washington Nationals after breaking in with the Florida Marlins, is a year away from free agency and because he is arbitration eligible, can expect a substantial raise on the $4.6 million he was paid last season.
Used primarily as a platoon player by Washington, Willingham posted a .264/.384/.446/.830 line against lefties last season. He turns 32 in February. With the Nationals making such a sizable investment in Werth, expect the Red Sox to make some inquiries. It's not impossible they could start the season with the four outfielders they have -- J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ryan Kalish and Mike Cameron -- but it's more likely they'll add to the mix.
The Sox did not exercise Bill Hall's option after the season, though at the time they said they might have interest in bringing him back. The Sox have not engaged his agent, Terry Bross, in further conversations, Bross said Monday, and interest in Hall from other clubs has picked up in the last 48 hours, he said.
And for Sox fans entertaining the fantasy of the team making a stealth strike for free-agent pitcher Cliff Lee, that's exactly what it is, a fantasy.
"We're not going to do that,'' a club source said. "We're pretty set with our [starting] pitching.''
Recasting the bullpen remains the team's other prime order of business.
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