BOSTON (AP) – The Boston Red Sox are making progress toward signing free agent J.D. Drew, a move that could give them enough outfield options to be in a better position to trade Manny Ramirez.

The Red Sox and Drew are getting closer to a contract agreement, a person familiar with the negotiations said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because talks were ongoing.

The team has been exploring deals for Ramirez, who has two years left on his eight-year contract and has asked to be traded several times. He can decline any trade because he’s been in the majors for 10 years and with the same team for five.

Ramirez’s agent, Greg Genske, did not return a telephone call or an e-mail seeking comment Monday. Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein did not respond to an e-mail.

Baseball’s winter meetings are scheduled next week from Monday through Thursday in Florida.

Drew opted out of the last three years of his five-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Nov. 9 and became a free agent. He played 135 games as their right fielder this year and hit .283 with 20 homers and a team-high 100 RBIs.

Trot Nixon, Boston’s right fielder, is a free agent. Wily Mo Pena, who played the position when Nixon was hurt last season, had trouble fielding there and seems better suited to Fenway Park’s smaller left field, where Ramirez has been the regular.

If the 31-year-old Drew joins the Red Sox and Ramirez leaves, they could open next season with Pena in left, Coco Crisp in center and Drew in right.

Ramirez, 34, has hit .316 with 234 homers and 712 RBIs in six seasons with Boston and has served as protection in the cleanup spot for No. 3 hitter David Ortiz. But Ramirez has a quirky personality and was absent from the lineup late in the season with tendinitis in his right knee.

He started only nine games in the last six weeks and his 130 games were the third-fewest in his last 12 seasons. Still he finished with 35 homers, 102 RBIs and a .321 batting average.

When Ramirez reported for spring training last March 1, Genske said the slugger had “kept an open mind” about where he wants to play.

After the 2003 season, the Red Sox placed Ramirez on waivers in an effort to relieve themselves of his expensive contract. In 2005, Ramirez sat out the last two games before the July 31 trade deadline while the team explored possible deals. The Red Sox held trade discussions about him before last season.

Ramirez is due $18 million next season and $20 million in 2008. That price might no longer keep a team from trading for him now that other outfielders have signed big-money deals – Carlos Lee with Houston for $100 million over six years and Alfonso Soriano with the Chicago Cubs for $136 million over eight years.

Ramirez’s deal contains $20 million club options for 2009 and 2010.

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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

AP-ES-11-27-06 2034EST