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Although the Boston Red Sox have finally signed Cuban Catcher Aldaberto Ibarra to a minor league contract, a failed physical has significantly reduced the 22-year-old backstop’s signing bonus, according to WEEI’s Alex Speier.

As yet, there is no indication what aspect of the physical might have caused Boston to lower the signing bonus by more than two-thirds.

Originally set to snag more than $3 million when he put pen to paper, Ibarra has reportedly settled for between $700,000 and $800,000 after a minor medical problem left his physical examination coming up short.

Despite this medical road bump, the Red Sox didn’t hesitate to sign the young Cuban, who defected to the United States only last year.

Widely considered by many Cuban baseball authorities to have the requisite skills to thrive behind the big-league dish, Ibarra is known for a quick bat and a strong throwing arm. The latter skill has obvious attraction to the catching-weak Red Sox.

For more information on Ibarra, check out this article published in April: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/384957-red-sox-inking-cuban-adalberto-ibarra-bad-news-for-victor-martinez

For up-to-the-minute Red Sox news, follow Peter on Twitter at BoSoxUpdate.

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Carlos Delgado joined the Boston Red Sox this morning when he agreed to a minor league contract with Boston’s front office, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

The contractual details include a $20,000 salary per month at the minor league level and a pro-rated $3 million yearly salary when Delgado reaches the bigs.

Should the Red Sox make the playoffs, postseason performance incentives have been included that could add to those numbers. Conversely, if Boston fails to bring Delgado up to The Show by Sept. 1, he can opt out and again hit the open market.

Entering the week, the Red Sox presumably had only cursory interest in the 38-year-old slugger, but with Kevin Youkilis’ season finished and Boston merely five games back in the American League East, signing Delgado became a pressing matter.

Once he is ready for Major League action, the left-handed Delgado will likely platoon at first with the right-handed Mike Lowell. If everything works out and manager Terry Francona shuffles the deck properly, Delgado and Lowell will successfully compensate for the loss of Youkilis.

Although he experienced an injury-shortened 2009 and has yet to play in 2010, Delgado did hit .271 with 38 home runs in 2008, his last full season with the Mets.

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The Boston Red Sox’ interest in free-agent first baseman Carlos Delgado seems to have intensified after the 38-year-old worked out for Boston today, and Delgado could sign as early as tonight, according to The Boston Herald’s Scott Lauber.

While several teams have demonstrated interest in the former New York Met, the Red Sox could have the most pressing need due to a season-ending injury to Kevin Youkilis. Even as Mike Lowell fills in at first base against the New York Yankees this evening in the Bronx, General Manager Theo Epstein may be considering platooning him with Delgado.

Surely Boston’s general manager would prefer to make such a decision after this weekend’s critical series with the Yankees, but surging interest in Delgado could force him into signing the multiple Silver Slugger before he’s certain of the Red Sox’ playoff potential.

Should the Sox sweep the Yankees this weekend, they would be right back in the playoff hunt, but anything less could signal an all-but-finished 2010 campaign.

Limited to just 112 plate appearances for the 2009 Mets, Delgado still managed a 914 OPS in that injury-shortened season. During his last full season in 2008, Delgado hit .271 with 38 homers.

If Delgado brings that kind of production to the stretch run, he could come close to replacing Youkilis and keeping the Sox in the playoff picture.

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A mystery American League team has claimed Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon off waivers, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

Given Papelbon’s success in Boston and the lack of leverage in a waiver-claim trade, the Red Sox will most likely pull Papelbon back off waivers.

While it might seem absurd to many that the Red Sox would consider trading their All-Star closer, Boston’s ever dwindling playoff hopes make it more conceivable every day. That said, the asking price would be astronomical, and it’s unlikely the claiming team would be willing to pay it.

The Los Angeles Angels, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago White Sox all seem like plausible candidates to have made the claim, but the team’s identity remains unknown a full day after the claim was exercised.

Although Papelbon has collected 176 saves in just five seasons as the Red Sox’ closer, his walk, strikeout, and homerun percentages are all heading in the wrong directions while his salaries continue only to increase.

Papelbon is earning a still-affordable $9.35 million this season, but that number will surely climb into eight-figure territory in 2011, Papelbon’s last season before hitting free agency.

With Daniel Bard waiting in the wings, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the Red Sox would part with Papelbon, again for the right price.

To put Papelbon’s salary in sabermetric context, Boston’s closer has never exceeded $13.5 million in value since he took over that role in 2006. Mariano Rivera has never been worth more than $14.2 million.

While it’s difficult to put a price tag on winning, Papelbon is on the verge of costing more than he’s worth. Certainly in free agency or a contract extension, Papelbon will command more money than he’s worth, and it would seem uncharacteristic of the Red Sox to keep him around at an unreasonable price.

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Will David Ortiz earn a stay in Boston? Will the New York Yankees have enough to hang on to the American League East? Can Ted Lilly save the Dodgers’ fanbase from the McCourt divorce?

The 2010 trade deadline came and went Saturday afternoon with a flurry of both major and minor activity. Now, for players, general managers, owners and coaches alike, the proof is in the pudding.

The decisions made over the past few weeks, and the performances delivered over the next few months, will decide the fate of many a baseball personality.

Whether it’s a contract extension, a pink slip, a postseason berth, or a playoff collapse, much is at stake.

Rosters largely set, teams are now hunkering down for the stretch run. Here are the top 10 big leaguers on the brink as their teams scramble toward October.

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The Boston Red Sox have acquired minor league pitcher and 2007 8th-round draft pick Daniel Turpen from San Francisco to complete a trade deadline deal that sent reliever Ramon Ramirez to the Giants, according to WEEI’s Rob Bradford.

The 6-3, 230-pound Turpen turns twenty-four this August and has posted a 2.69 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP in over 220 composite minor-league innings. While Turpen has naturally been most dominant at the Single-A level, his 2010 numbers at Double-A Richmond haven’t been quite as impressive.

This year, Turpen has put up a 4.09 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP for the Flying Squirrels. Although his H/9 ratio is an unfortunate 9.8, the former Oregon State righty has a 7.5 K/9 ratio and a 0.7 HR/9 ratio this year.

For breaking-news Red Sox updates, follow Peter on Twitter at  BoSoxUpdate.

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The Boston Red Sox have acquired Texas Rangers’ catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia in a deal consummated even as the bell tolled on the 2010 non-waiver trade deadline. In addition to cash considerations, Texas will receive three players, including Roman Mendez, Chris McGuinness, and a player to be named later, according to WEEI’s Alex Speier.

For a number of years now, the Red Sox have been linked in trade rumors to the 25-year-old Saltalamacchia, who himself expressed great excitement at the prospect of being traded to Boston last year. Of course, most of those rumors involved the Red Sox giving up significant prospects or pieces to acquire the once-top-billed backstop.

A former top catching prospect, Saltalamacchia has slumped or declined, depending on one’s perspective, over the last two years. Spending the start of the 2010 season on the disabled list before moving to the Oklahoma City RedHawks, Saltalamacchia owns a career .251 batting average and .701 OPS and has thrown out approximately 21 percent of potential base stealers.

Presently with the Single-A Lowell Spinners, 20-year-old Dominican right-hander Roman Mendez has high upside and the potential to be a “front-of-the-rotation starter or high-leverage reliever,” according to SoxProspects.com.

Selected during the 13th round of the 2009 Amateur Draft, McGuinness is an infielder who possesses a career .275 average and an 860 OPS in one year with Red Sox Single-A affiliates.

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The Boston Red Sox have traded struggling righty reliever Ramon Ramirez to the San Francisco Giants at the 2010 MLB trade deadline.

While Ramirez has been less than effective in the American League this season, the Red Sox have been actively shopping him to National League clubs with whom he might experience a resurgence, including the New York Mets.

A Rule-5 pick from the Kansas City Royals, Ramirez has put up relatively horrible numbers this season after experiencing a dominant 2009 in Boston. A year ago, Ramirez posted a 2.84 ERA and a 6.72 K/9 ratio. While Ramirez continues to fan batters at a similar rate, he has produced an inflated 4.46 ERA in 2010.

The details of the deal remain unknown, but it is unlikely the Red Sox acquired a Major League player in the trade.

For breaking-news Red Sox updates, follow Peter on Twitter at  BoSoxUpdate.

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The relatively quiet Boston Red Sox front office has talked with the Milwaukee Brewers about acquiring veteran outfielder Jim Edmonds, according to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy.

This is perhaps the most feasible and sensible of all potential trades reportedly involving the Red Sox. The 40-year-old Edmonds is only under contract through this season at a very affordable $850,000 and is enjoying his best year since 2004 when the lefty posted a 1061 OPS for the St. Louis Cardinals.

On the Brewers’ 2010 campaign, Edmonds is hitting .289 with 8 homers and an 866 OPS. Defensively, Edmonds and his 17.1 UZR/150 rank 7th among all active outfielders with at least 350 innings this year.

If you’d like to know as soon as Peter’s Red Sox articles have posted, you can follow him on Twitter at BoSoxUpdate.

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While the New York Yankees are the reported front runners to trade for Lance Berkman, the Red Sox still called the Houston Astros to check in on the slumping slugger’s availability, according to ESPN’s Jayson Stark.

Multiple reports indicate that Berkman, who’s hitting just .245 with 13 homers this season, could end up in the Bronx if the Astros are willing to accept minimal or no prospects in return. Certainly, having the likes of Lance Berkman on one’s bench seems much more Yankee than Red Sox, but stranger things have happened.

Still, since Houston appears to be attempting a pure salary dump, the Red Sox are unlikely to be seriously interested. Aside from the obvious logjam at both first base and designated hitter that a Berkman acquisition would create, the Red Sox are already over the luxury tax this season and are probably far less willing than the Yankees to further extend themselves financially, particularly for a waning slugger.

As always, Theo Epstein simply appears to be doing his due diligence in leaving no stone unturned at the 2010 trade deadline.

If you’d like to kno w as soon as Peter’s Red Sox articles have posted, you can follow him on Twitter at BoSoxUpdate.

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