The Red Sox remain hopeful that they will eventually finalize their contract agreement with Mike Napoli, who reached a three-year, $39 million deal with the club on Dec. 3.

"I think as everyone knows, one of our goals this offseason was to add offense at first base," Ben Cherington said on WEEI's "Hot Stove" radio program. "We haven't been unable to really do that, officially, yet. We're still talking, and when you're talking, there's hope for a resolution. But nothing to report right now."

Though neither side has publicly acknowledged reasons for the hold-up, it is believed to stem from issues that popped up regarding Napoli's hip during the physical he underwent in Boston roughly a month ago.

"Until something is done, you have to consider other options, so we've had to do that, and we've continued to consider other ways to improve the team, whether it's at first base or elsewhere," Cherington said. "At this point we just haven't found anything that made sense to us in the sort of big picture. So that's where we are. We obviously had targeted someone at that position earlier in the offseason, and we're still hopeful we can add someone there."