Here’s the press release from the Boston Red Sox concerning the signing of free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre.

The Boston Red Sox today signed third baseman Adrian Beltre to a one-year contract through the 2010 season with a player option for 2011. No further terms were disclosed.

The Red Sox 40-man roster is now at 40.

The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Theo Epstein.

Beltre, 30, hit .265 (119-for-449) with 27 doubles, eight home runs, 44 RBI and 54 runs in 111 games for the Seattle Mariners in 2009. He appeared at third base in all 111 contests, making 110 starts at the position. Beltre finished sixth among American League third basemen with a .959 fielding percentage, committing 14 errors in 341 total chances. He missed time during the 2009 campaign due to a pair of trips to the disabled list, including surgery on his left shoulder to remove bone spurs on June 30.

Originally signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent on July 7, 1994, Beltre made his Major League debut in 1998 at the age of 19. He has hit .270 (1,700-for-6,285) with 348 doubles, 26 triples, 250 home runs, 906 RBI, 828 runs, 478 walks and 111 stolen bases in 1,681 Major League games over parts of 12 seasons with the Dodgers (1998-2004) and Mariners (2005-09).

A right-handed batter, he has hit 25 or more home runs in a season four times, including three straight years from 2006-08. Beltre hit for the cycle with the Mariners on September 1, 2008 in Texas and earned a 2004 Silver Slugger Award when he led the Majors with a career-high 48 home runs. That year, he also became just the 11th player in Major League history with at least 45 home runs and 200 hits in a single season.

The 2007 and 2008 American League Gold Glove Award winner at third base, Beltre has posted a .957 fielding percentage (205 errors/4,718 total chances) in 1,664 games (1,621 starts) at the position. He leads all active third basemen with 1,319 putouts, is second with 3,194 assists and third with 297 double plays.

A native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Beltre played in four Division Series games with the Dodgers in 2004. He hit safely in three of the four contests, going 4-for-15 with an RBI and run scored.

Note: Beltre will be introduced to the Boston media on Friday morning at 10 a.m. at press conference at Fenway Park.

The deal between the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners that will send Casey Kotchman to the Mariners has been finalized according to Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times.

The Red Sox will receive 3B/OF Bill Hall, a player-to-be-named-later and cash considerations. Kotchman will be meeting with the Seattle media at 7 p.m. ET.

After coming over from the Atlanta Braves last year, Kotchman saw action in 39 games. He hit .218 with a home run and seven RBIs with the Red Sox.

Hall came to the Mariners from the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2009 season and played in 29 games. He hit .200 with a home run and 12 RBIs in Seattle.

Kotchman is expected to be the starting first baseman in 2010 for the Mariners.

And in other Red Sox news, the signing of Adrian Beltre is official. He’ll be introduced to the media on Friday morning at 10 a.m.

It should be an emotional night tonight as former Husky and long time assistant Jamelle Elliott brings her Cincinnati Bearcats to Gampel Pavilion to take on the UConn Huskies.

Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on CPTV. The game is also available on the internet for a fee through Hoop Streams. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

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Here’s a press release from the Boston Red Sox concerning some front office moves:

BOSTON, MA — The Boston Red Sox today announced a series of personnel moves in the organization’s baseball operations department.

The announcements were made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Theo Epstein.

Major League Medical Staff
Mike Reinold has been promoted to Head Athletic Trainer and Assistant Director, Medical Services under Medical Director Dr. Thomas Gill. Reinold has served as the club’s Assistant Athletic Trainer for the past four seasons, adding the title of Rehab Coordinator prior to the 2008 campaign. Before joining the Red Sox, he spent six years as the Director of Rehab and Clinical Education at the American Sports Medicine Institute run by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, AL. Reinold earned a degree in physical therapy from Northeastern University and holds a doctorate in physical therapy from the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. He is a certified Athletic Trainer and certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

Additional changes within the Major League medical department include the promotion of Greg Barajas to Assistant Athletic Trainer. Barajas has spent the last five seasons as athletic trainer for Boston’s Triple-A Pawtucket affiliate, earning International League Athletic Trainer of the Year honors in 2007. He previously served as an athletic trainer in the Milwaukee Brewers organization from 1998-2004. Barajas is a certified Athletic Trainer from the National Athletic Trainers Association and a certified Performance Enhancement Specialist from the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

Mitsugi Ito joins the Red Sox as a team Massage Therapist. He previously served as Assistant Massage Therapist for the Seibu Lions.

Amateur Scouting
Amiel Sawdaye has been promoted to Director, Amateur Scouting. He served as Boston’s Assistant Director, Amateur Scouting for the last five years after being named to the post in December of 2004. A 1999 graduate of the University of Maryland, Sawdaye joined the Red Sox organization in 2002 as an intern in the scouting department and spent 2004 as the club’s scouting assistant.

David Finley has been promoted to Special Assistant to the General Manager after spending the past five years as the Red Sox National Crosschecker. Finley joined the Boston organization as the West Coast Crosschecker prior to the 2002 season. He has previously worked for the Padres and Marlins.

Mark Wasinger has been promoted to Special Assignment Scout. Wasinger was the club’s West Crosschecker in 2009 and has spent six years overall as a regional crosschecker and one year as a professional scout with Boston. He came to the Red Sox in November of 2002 after seven years as an area scout with San Diego. A former Major League infielder, he played parts of three seasons with the Padres (1986) and Giants (1987-88).

Mike Rikard has been promoted to National Crosschecker. He has spent the past five years as a regional crosschecker with the Red Sox and previously was a scout in the Padres organization.

Dan Madsen has been promoted to West Coast Crosschecker. The former minor league outfielder spent the previous seven years as an area scout for the Red Sox in the Southern California/San Diego area.

Tom Battista joins the organization as an Area Scout in Southern California after serving as an area scout and West Coast Crosschecker for the Atlanta Braves for seven years.

Pat Portugal has been hired as an Area Scout in the Northwest. Prior to joining the Red Sox he spent five years as an area scout with the Giants and four years as an area scout with the Cubs.

Sam Ray has been named an Area Scout in the Ohio Valley after spending the previous two seasons as an intern in the baseball operations department.

Demond Smith has been hired as an Area Scout in Northern California. Prior to joining the Red Sox, the former outfielder played 17 seasons of professional baseball from 1990-2008 and spent time in the Mets (1990-93), Angels (1994-95), Athletics (1995-97), White Sox (1998) and Braves (1999-2000) organizations.

Jared Banner has been named Assistant, Amateur Scouting. Banner joined the Red Sox organization as an intern in baseball operations in 2007 and served as Assistant, Player Development in 2008-09.

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Sorry for not getting this up any earlier but with a migrane the past day and half it wasn’t easy to look at the computer.

As most of you probably know, there’s been some news the past day or so involving the Boston Red Sox.

On Tuesday afternoon, Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal first reported the news that Jacoby Ellsbury will man left field and newly signed Mike Cameron will play center.

“The thought being, Cameron has played center most of his career and he’s got those long strides. Ells, kind of like [Rays’ left fielder] Carl Crawford, has the short burst of speed and I think doing it like this, we’re going to have a spectacular outfield.”

When Francona called Ellsbury with the decision, the 26-year-old outfielder was a bit disappointed.

“He was worried that it was a demotion, which it is not,” explained Francona. “I kind of ensured him of that. I just think we’re tying to put guys where we think they can make the biggest impression. Cam was great, for a guy who is 37-years-old and played center field his whole life, he said, ‘Hey, I’ll play anywhere.’ So it was just a decision based on what’s best for our team.”

Ellsbury has played 80 career games in left field but didn’t play there in 2009. He’s made one outfield assist and hasn’t made an error in left. It also makes sense given that Cameron has only played three games in left field in his 15 year career.

If anything, this could help Ellsbury steal more bases. He had 70 last season and since he won’t have to cover as much ground, at least at Fenway, his legs will be a little more rested.

I like the move as it gives the Red Sox three top quality defenders in the outfield. It should be fun and interesting to see them patrol the outfield at Fenway all season long.

With the Adrian Beltre signing, Casey Kotchman was most likely going to sit on the bench and play sparingly with the Red Sox. Now it looks he’ll be the starting first baseman for the Seattle Mariners.

The Red Sox will receive 3B/OF Bill Hall from the Mariners, a minor leaguer and cash to cover most of Hall’s contract. Hall will make $8.4 million in 2010 in the final year of his contract but the Mariners are expected to send $7.5-8 million.

It now looks like the only move the Red Sox need to make now is to trade Mike Lowell. And that will most likely come during spring training.

Also the day we all look forward to here in New England is Truck Day.  It will be held on February 12th signifying the unofficial start to spring here in the New England states.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as the Seton Hall Pirates come to Gampel Pavilion for a Big East matchup.

Tip is scheduled for 9 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on My-TV9. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

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UConn Football links

Zach Frazer Talks About QB Competition [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Looking at the Big East bowl record [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]

Bowl season review [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]

Video: Big East’s most impressive bowl team [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]

UConn Presented 2009 FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award [UConnHuskies.com]

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