The Red Sox have agreed to a one-year contract with free-agent Cody Ross. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the signing and Gordon Edes of ESPN reports the deal is worth $3 million with built in performance incentives.
The Mets pulled out of the running when it became apparent Ross wasn’t going to sign anything close to what the Mets were offering.
Last season with the San Francisco Giants, Ross played all three outfield positions and batted .240/.325/.405 with 14 homers and 52 RBI in 405 AB in what was a down year for him.
Original Post 1/21
The Mets have interest in free agent outfielder Cody Ross and are making a run at him says Jerry Crasnick of ESPN via twitter. Ross has 345 career games in centerfield and would be an offensive upgrade to former-teammate Andres Torres, who batted .221 in 2011.
Ross, like Scott Hairston, is a right-handed batter with some pop. The 31-year old New Mexico native hit .240/.325/.405 with 14 homers and 52 RBIs in 405 at-bats for the Giants in 2011.
He earned $6.3 million last season and although originally seeking a two years, a thinning market may cause him to settle for a one-year deal.
A guy that can play all three outfield positions and swing a relatively consistent bat is a valuable asset, one the Mets thought they had in Pagan. Ross knows the division from his days with the Marlins, and would provide a legitimate fallback plan should the Torres experiment not work as Alderson hopes.
My only question is, where is this money suddenly coming from that they are pursuing a free agent that isn’t out of the bargain bin. We have heard names like Adam Loewen and Ronny Cedeno all winter, –with exception to the one night in which Alderson re-vamped the bullpen– but now we are suddenly starting to hear the Mets going after actual major league ballplayers.
Go figure.
