According Jon Heyman's twitter feed, the Red Sox are considered favorites to sign Carlos Beltran.
Let me be the first hope that those considerations are false.
Is this really what the Red Sox need next year?
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A 35-year-old (in April), introverted outfielder, who's on the downside of a career in which he's made 150M?
I know he did all right after moving to San Francisco at the deadline; he hit .322 with the Giants. In fact, over the course of 142 games in 2011, Beltran was all together pretty solid. He hit .300 with 22 home runs and 84 RBI. It was his best season in three years.
But it was also a contract year for an aging outfielder, who's already made more than enough money playing this game. That's not what the Sox are looking for. They need guys who are eager; guys who will fight and play like their careers depend on it
If the Sox aren't satisfied with ReddickKalish, they're better off rolling the dice with a Ryan Ludwick, Cody Ross or even someone like David DeJesus. Someone with grit and personality.
Not a guy who can so easily fall back on past achievement and riches; certainly not a guy whose Twitter avatar looks like this.
Rich can be reached at rlevine@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Rich on Twitter at http:twitter.comrich_levine