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According to Alex Speier, the Red Sox and Shane Victorino have agreed to a contract for three years. Based on earlier reports, it seems safe to assume that he will run the Red Sox some $38 million.
Victorino, who will be 32 for the entirety of the 2013 season, brings some balance to the Red Sox. While he's still basically a right-handed bat given his splits, between Jonny Gomes and Mike Napoli the team had been loading up on bats at the cost of defense. While it's not clear exactly what Victorino is offensively at the moment--he had a .310 wOBA last year, .368 in 2011, .331 in 2010, and .352 in 2009--at the very least he should give the Red Sox plenty of help defensively in a right field that plays like a second center often enough.
There are a lot of angles to look at this from. It's not an amazing bargain, but it's also not a terrible deal when you consider the context. We'll have a lot more on this later tonight as we try and piece this deal and what it means for Boston together.