Gammons: Beltre 'going to be tough signing'

Hall of Fame baseball analyst Peter Gammons joined The Big Show on Friday, offering his thoughts on a variety of topics, including his opinion on what the Red Sox will do with the $12.5 million option for David Ortiz in 2011.

"I think they will pick it [the option] up," said Gammons. "Because I know they're really worried if they don't he's going to be hitting against right-handed pitchers in either New York or Tampa. I think that's a tough thing to swallow. He may not be happy about them picking up the one year … but he did sign the contract. I understand where he's coming from and I understand how terrific he's been for this franchise, but that's the luck of the draw."

Gammons was asked if he thought the Sox were more likely to make a run at Jayson Werth or Carl Crawford in the offseason. The two outfielders are considered the top positional players in the 2010 free agent class.

"I think Crawford," said Gammons. "It's clear that they believe in 2012 that Kalish is going to become a really good player in right field. And I buy that, I think he's going to become a tremendous player. He's going to hit, and I love the whole Darin Erstad, Grady Sizemore personality that he brings to a team. I was amazed -- he walked in and all the veteran players were like 'Great, this is better than a trade, we brought up Ryan Kalish,' which speaks volumes about the way he plays."

The 2010 season is now over for Adrian Beltre, who on Friday left for Los Angeles to join his wife, who is due to give birth to the couple's third child. Does this also mean the end of Beltre's Red Sox career, or will the club sign the third baseman in the offseason?

"I think that's going to be a very tough signing," said Gammons. "I find Beltre a really compelling guy, he plays so hard. Now he's at the point where he won't tell them if he's hurt because he wants to stay in the lineup … If he ends up in Detroit -- which I think could end up a stopping point for him -- how comfortable is he going to be there? Very bad ballpark for him. It'll be very interesting to see how he and Scott [Boras] come to this."

Gammons also thinks Friday night's start vs. the Yankees could be the last time we see Daisuke Matsuzaka in a Red Sox uniform.

"I think they might trade him," said Gammons of Matsuzaka. "His contract is not bad and he can pitch in the National League. If they lose a lot offensively -- if they lose Victor Martinez and Beltre -- I could see them trading Dice-K for [Carlos] Beltran and putting him in left field."

For a more detailed transcript, click here. To hear the entire interview click on The Big Show audio on demand page and for more Red Sox news visit the team page at weei.com/redsox.