Boston also is said to be close to a deal with David Ortiz.
By The Associated Press

BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox agreed to contracts with outfielder Trot Nixon and right-hander Byung-Hyun Kim on Tuesday.

Nixon agreed to a one-year deal worth $6.6 million, and Kim agreed to a two-year deal for $10 million. Both will be eligible for free agency when they complete their agreements.

“Both contracts buy the player out of their remaining arbitration years,” general manager Theo Epstein said, adding that a longer deal with Nixon is still in the works.

Also Tuesday, the club exchanged arbitration figures with designated hitter David Ortiz, who made $1.25 million last year. He asked for $5 million, Boston offered $4.25 million, and Epstein said a settlement could be coming soon.

A first-round draft pick in 1993, the 29-year-old Nixon is the longest-tenured member of the Red Sox organization. He is a career .277 hitter with 106 homers and 381 RBIs in 696 major league games, posting bests with a .306 batting average and 28 homers last season while ranking fifth in slugging percentage (.578) and on-base percentage (.396).

Kim, who turns 25 on Wednesday, is 29-27 with 86 saves and a 3.24 ERA in his career with the Diamondbacks and the Red Sox. The South Korea native and 2002 All-Star went 8-5 with 16 saves in 19 chances and a 3.18 ERA in 49 games after coming to Boston last season.

His preference is to be a starter, and the Red Sox will give him that chance this spring.

“We think B.K. has what’s needed to start. The key is his effectiveness against left-handers. He has the arsenal to get them out,” Epstein said. “With the bullpen that we have now, which we feel is one of the best in the league, it gives us the luxury of using B.K. as a starter.”

Kim went 6-4 with 16 saves and a 2.28 ERA in 42 outings after being named Boston’s closer July 1 and did not allow an earned run in his final 13 regular season appearances. But he lost the job in the playoffs after allowing the tying run to reach base in the ninth inning of Boston’s loss in the first-round opener against Oakland.

He was jeered when the public-address announcer read his name for the first home game, and he responded by making an obscene gesture. He later apologized.

“That incident is something B.K. spent a lot of time thinking about,” Epstein said. “He feels like he’s got a lot to prove to Red Sox fans and he wants to help this club accomplish something in 2004 that we didn’t accomplish in 2003.”

AP-ES-01-20-04 1903EST