Red Sox Sign Cody Ross

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Red Sox have signed outfielder Cody Ross.

The saga of Ross' free agency has come to a sudden head today, with the Mets dropping out of the race for the 31-year-old outfielder and the Sox emerging as the clear favorite. Now, it appears as though Ross will indeed be headed to Boston.

Mike Silverman says that the deal is for just one year, while Gordon Edes chips in with a figure of $3 million. It's a stiff pay cut for Ross, which seems about right given both Boston's situation and the current state of the market--the Mets were apparently not willing to go above $1 million.

Ross, a well-known masher of southpaws, will likely form a platoon with Ryan Sweeney in right field. A career .282/.349/.563 hitter against lefties, Ross' overall numbers are dragged down by a career spent in pitcher-friendly parks and an unhealthy diet of righties. A move to Fenway and a platoon with Ryan Sweeney could help him significantly, while his ability to not be completely useless against same-handed pitchers makes him a step up over the likes of Darnell McDonald.

The only question now is what the $3 million cost means for the Sox' quest for starting pitching? It seems unlikely that they would go to the lengths of trading their starting shortstop just to make an improvement to their platoon, and Edes says the Sox are still exploring all their options, so chances are we can just count this as a nice bonus when they eventually do fill the #4 spot.