Red Sox offer Beckett four-year deal; Olney says both sides “optimistic”

Josh Beckett has a four-year offer on the table from the Boston Red Sox. Will he take it or look for more on the free-agent market?

*Note: See an update at the bottom of this article.*

Through the years, the Boston Red Sox have shied away from aggressively trying to sign players to longterm deals that take them past the age of 35. It has been a guideline that 37-year old General Manager Theo Epstein has frequently abided by. After the 2008 season, the Red Sox offered third baseman Mike Lowell a three-year deal when the Philadelphia Phillies were offering four. Lowell, surprisingly, took the lesser deal. Before that, they had done the same with Pedro Martinez, but they lost out to the New York Mets, as he took their four-year offer. They offered outfielder Jason Bay a four-year deal worth less one proposed by the Mets, and he took the more lucrative deal.

Boston has not wanted, for whatever reason, to sign their own players to longterm contracts. But they want their fans to think they do, hence the doing-our-duty offers.

Starting pitcher Josh Beckett appears to be the newest product of the Red Sox game.

In some cases, Epstein’s philosophy is a smart one. Martinez was on his last legs and was not worth such a longterm deal. Not offering a sulking Manny Ramirez a longterm deal was intelligent, but more often than not Epstein has been in the wrong. He refused to make a real effort to re-sign 31-year old Jason Bay, not wanting to give him the annual salary and the longevity the New York Mets eventually did. And now, Beckett has been offered an insulting deal.

The 29-year old ace whom they gave up current and future star Hanley Ramirez for in a 2006 deal with the Florida Marlins is entering the final year of his contract. He has had some rough spots over the past few seasons, but has overall deserved the title of ace. In his four years with the Red Sox, Beckett has logged 719 1/3 innings (throwing 200-plus in three seasons), while winning 65 games and posting an acceptable 4.03 ERA. With such numbers, he should be in line for a 6-to-7 year deal like the one the same-aged CC Sabathia received prior to last season. But, Boston is not willing to sign him for such a period.

Instead, they have a four-year offer on the table worth in the $65-70 million range, sources close to the pitcher have told ESPN’s Buster Olney. I’m sure Beckett could get much more on the open market given his overwhelming success and his reputation as a ‘big game pitcher.’ It is sometimes necessary to limit the length of a contract, considering how much of a risk it is to sign players in their prime well into their aging years. But Boston, with Lackey as a prime example, have signed players with much bigger health risks than Beckett–like J.D. Drew and Daisuke Matsuzaka–to five-year deals.

Some say Epstein signed Lackey to be Beckett’s replacement atop the rotation. But, of course, this was not told to Beckett himself. Boston, whether it’s an act or not, wants to make the player feel they genuinely want to re-sign them. They offer them a deal, such as in Beckett’s case as well as Bay’s before him, that is on the lower end. The contract offer they hope tells fans they are trying. The ball is now in his court. And that’s exactly where Boston wants it to be.

In the case of Bay, the team was worried about signing a strikeout-prone and only average-fielding outfielder to a five-year contract and, in the back of their mind, it seemed they were even more worried about the possibility of injury. Bay was an important piece to their success. He fit in Boston. But the team instead chose to throw the money he could have received to sign the same-aged Lackey, who had a injury-shortened final season with the Anaheim Angels and had been bothered by a mirage of shoulder issues. There has been no consistency. Since Lowell is the last aging player to be re-signed, it just seems they would much rather sign free-agents than re-sign their own players.

Beckett has few negatives. They have little reason not to give him what he deserves. Same with thirty-one year old Kevin Youkilis, their immensely talented first baseman who has calmly and rather minimally expressed frustration by the lack of an extension. Epstein has taken the approach he perceives intelligent, but overall it’s difficult to find a method to his madness. He disrespects his players by offering below their dollar-value and, in doing so, takes on a rather unflattering and pungent reputation.

Despite Olney saying “there is optimism a deal will be completed in the next week or two,” this proposed offer, though lucrative, has to be insulting to Beckett. He just saw the Red Sox sign Lackey, two years his senior and one who has missed more time than him to injury, to the $82.5 million deal. Given his relative youth and how much he has given the Red Sox, surely Boston would up the ante and give him a deal far superior to his rotation-mate, right? Though Beckett has said he relatively stays out of negotiations and leaves the process to his agent and the team, he had to be put off my this offer.

He has to wonder if the team really wants him. Given the team’s past, I am not entirely sure they do.

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UPDATE (March 31st):

According to Sports Illustrated’s John Heyman, one of the more respected and reliable insiders:

“The Red Sox and Josh Beckett are closing in on a deal for a four-year extension for close to $70 million, sources close to the situation say. A deal is likely to be announced just after the start of the season.

Extensions completed before the regular season affect the competitive balance tax, so it makes sense for Boston to wait to finalize things.

Beckett’s extension would be in addition to the $12 million he is to make in 2010, giving him five years left at almost exactly the same pay as rotation mate John Lackey, who signed as a free agent with Boston for $82.5 million over five years.”

In an interview with WEEI’s Rob Bradford, Beckett expresses his desire to remain with Boston:

“(The contract negotiations) really haven’t entered my mind at all. I’m not too concerned with it. If it’s meant to be and the Red Sox want me to be here then I’ll stay here because I enjoy playing in Boston. Playing in front of those fans. I can’t imagine going anywhere else. They do everything they can to make us successful as possible and I don’t think there are a whole lot of organizations that do that. It’s not a knock on them, but it’s a testament to how the Red Sox treat their players.”

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