Sox Ink Adrian Beltre

Beltre's defense lured the Sox.

Peter Gammons is reporting that the Red Sox and 30-year old 3B Adrian Beltre have come to terms on a one year contract worth $9 million which includes a 2011 player option for $5 million. I never thought I'd be saying this, but good signing by the Sox. With reports of $10 million annually over several years, the signing of the light-hitting 3B seemed questionable. Once again, the Red Sox protected themselves.

There's no real way to make Beltre's offensive numbers look pretty. He batted just .265 with 8 HRs and 44 RBIs in 111 games last season, albeit in arguably the second worst hitting ballpark in the majors. However, if you look at his home vs. road splits, his stats didn't improve all that much when outside of Safeco.

		G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Home		54	220	24	55	13	0	4	19	8	43	7	0	.250	.283	.364	.646
Away		57	229	30	64	14	0	4	25	11	31	6	2	.279	.324	.393	.717

Hopefully the friendly confines of Fenway Park can aid in improving his numbers (although he's a .179 hitter in 56 Fenway ABs).


Why did we sign Beltre?

The Red Sox, like their other signings this off-season (Scutaro and Cameron), have been focusing on defense. Beltre will give the Red Sox an amazing turn-around at that position compared to what Mike Lowell has done of late. According the statistic UZR/150, which measures the number of runs (above or below) the average fielder is over 150 defensive games, Adrian Beltre was +21 in 2009 compared to Lowell's -14.4 rating. That's a net difference of 35.4 runs over the course of a season.

Lowell will soon be shown the door. His $12 million salary puts the Sox over the luxury tax, but if he is not on the roster (if he's traded or released), he will not count against the team's salaries. Yes, the Sox will essentially be paying the 3B position $21 million this season (not to mention the money they are paying Lugo), but the Sox made an organizational decision and it's hard to argue with it.