NASHVILLE -- It didn't take long for the Red Sox to make some news at the winter meetings.
The Red Sox have agreed in principle with free agent Mike Napoli on a three-year deal for 39 million, multiple sources confirm.
Napoli, 31, had been the Red Sox' primary offseason target among free agents. He visited Boston 10 days ago and had dinner with general manager Ben Cherington, manager John Farrell, and, in a sign of the team's interest, owner John Henry.
He also had interest from the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers. Napoli had spent the last two seasons with Texas.
The Sox will use Napoli primarily at first base, though he'll catch some as well.
While stressing that a deal with Napoli wasn't official, Cherington spoke with reporters Monday night about what they like about the veteran slugger.
"He's a guy who gets on base and has power," said Cherington. "He'd be a good fit for our ballpark. We knew when we made the Dodgers trade we'd have to find a way to replace that offense and as we got into the offseason, we understood that it was probably going to have come from a combination of guys and not one guy.
"So that's part of what we've been trying to do this offseason: to add offense at a number of spots on the roster. Hopefully, we can do that."
Napoli has had great success at Fenway as a visitor, posting a 1.010 OPS in 73 career plate appearances, with a slash line of .306.397.710 and seven homers in 18 career games.
His addition gives the Red Sox four catchers on the major league roster and almost certainly means that the Sox will deal Jarrod Saltalamacchia to fill another need.
That would enable the Sox to use a tandem of Ryan Lavarnway and newly-signed David Ross behind the plate, with Napoli occasionally filling in there, too.
The Sox did not want to go to a fourth year on Napoli -- as Seattle has been reportedly willing to do -- and instead boosted the average annual value (AAV) of the deal higher than they had first planned.
The signing takes the Red Sox out of any talks with free agent first baseman Adam LaRoche, or potential trade talks with the Washington Nationals on Michael Morse, who could have been dealt had LaRoche re-signed with Washington.
The Sox still need an outfielder and are negotiating with Cody Ross, Nick Swisher and Shane Victorino.