Red Sox rumors: Boston still needs first base help

The Boston Red Sox are still on the hunt for a first baseman to complement new addition Mike Napoli, and manager John Farrell believes the club will probably bring someone on before camp opens next month, reports Alex Speier of WEEI:

"The one area that we probably need to get a feel for is at first base," said manager John Farrell.

"We fully expect Napoli to be ready to go, but if a need were to arise at that position, I think we'll probably have some additions before camp opens up in that area, so that there will be protection provided at first base."

While Napoli is in good health at the moment, his degenerative hips were bad enough to cut his deal with the Sox down to one year, so it's probably a good idea for the club to have a quality back-up option.

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Boston's in-house options -- Mark Hamilton and Daniel Nava, according to Speier -- have the potential to be nice bench players but do not inspire much confidence as full-time first basemen. In fact, Nava has never actually played first base at any level of professional ball.

The club has been tied to several free-agent options in the last few weeks, including Casey Kotchman and Lyle Overbay, both of whom are still available. Boston has also been linked to Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak, who appears to be out of a job in Seattle with the recent additions of Kendrys Morales and Michael Morse.