Major League Baseball

Red Sox GM hopes to keep Beltre, Martinez, Ortiz

Published Oct. 4, 2010 2:33 a.m. ET

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Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein praised three of the team's best hitters. Now he must figure out whether to keep them all.

Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez are headed for free agency. David Ortiz will return if the team picks up his $12 million option. It should be a busy offseason after a disappointing year in which injuries, a shaky bullpen and inconsistent starting pitching left the Red Sox out of the playoffs.

Losing any of those three players would leave another gap that would be tough to fill. Keeping them may cost more than the Red Sox want to spend.

Beltre hit .321 with 28 homers and 102 RBIs after signing a one-year contract.

''He did an incredible job,'' Epstein said Sunday after Boston beat the New York Yankees 8-4 in the season finale. ''The toughness that he showed playing through some injuries, and consistency that he showed offensively and bringing his normal great defense to the table, it was really impressive. And we're not the only ones who saw that. Everyone else saw it, too.''

He expects there to be an active market for the third baseman.

''We'll negotiate with him and do everything we can to bring him back and keep the best interests of the club in mind at all times,'' Epstein said. ''He had a great year. He deserves to go out and be a free agent.''

The Red Sox obtained Martinez at the July 31 trade deadline last year and he hit .336 for them with eight homers and 41 RBIs. This season, a broken left thumb limited him to 127 games but he still hit 20 homers with 79 RBIs and batted .302.

''Vic's done an unbelievable job since he's been here,'' Epstein said. ''I don't think we quite understood the impact he would have here and he's done a great job and we'd love to see the relationship continue.''

Martinez is adamant about catching rather than playing first base. This season he caught 110 games and played first 14 times. In 2009, he appeared in 85 games as a catcher and 70 as a first baseman.

''I'm just going to go to the offseason and prepare myself like I always do,'' Martinez said. ''Because I played a few games at first base, that doesn't mean that I'm a first baseman.''

Epstein said Martinez worked hard and got better as a catcher this year.

''He did a great job leading the pitching staff all year,'' Epstein said. ''As a catcher (he) fundamentally certainly made improvements.''

The easiest of the three big hitters to keep appears to be Ortiz. After struggling in April for the second consecutive season, he finished with 32 homers, 102 RBIs and a .270 batting average. His 306 homers are the most by a designated hitter and his 1,002 RBIs are one fewer than the DH record held by Edgar Martinez.

''Papi had a great year again,'' Epstein said. ''He had the tough April ... and, because he is who he is and because of the passion with which everyone follows this team a big burden came with that, a burden of expectations and questioning and he did an unbelievable job setting that to the side and focusing on getting locked in at the plate. And he did. And he didn't get unlocked for about five months.''

So will the Red Sox exercise their option and keep him?

''We're certainly interested in having him back next year,'' Epstein said. ''We'll sit down and talk it through, but it was another great year for him.''

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