The Boston Red Sox said goodbye to Jason Bay today, and with a good dose of humor in some corners.
So what do the Red Sox do now? According to Gordon Edes at ESPN Boston, they are keeping a quiet dialogue going with agent Scott Boras about free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre.
Now the Red Sox already have an expensive third baseman in Mike Lowell, and as much as Theo Epstein might wish otherwise, the deal sending Lowell to the Rangers did not go through. Of course, given the fallout after the trade fell apart, I’m not sure Epstein cares. It seems that Mike Lowell’s days in Boston are likely done.
But even if the Sox do simply dump Lowell, they will still have to pay him, and the Red Sox have shown no inclination to pay the luxury tax next season, further complicating matters.
The guess here is that Theo Epstein is simply letting Boras know he’s still interested, and that he’d like a phone call should Beltre’s asking price of $10-$15 million per year drop down to a more sensible level.
Beltre, by the way, would be a great fit at Fenway. Few third basemen are better than he is defensively, and one would expect his power numbers to gain at least a little boost by exchanging spacious Safeco for the Green Monster in left field.
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