The Red Sox have agreed to a one-year deal with outfielder Cody Ross. (AP)

According to multiple major league sources, the Red Sox are finalizing a one-year deal with free agent outfielder Cody Ross. Ross will receive a $3 million base salary, with possible “high-level” performance bonuses also in the mix. News of the agreement was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports (via twitter).

Ross, 31, is a career .261 hitter with a .323 OBP, .456 slugging mark and .779 OPS, along with 100 homers, in parts of eight seasons with the Tigers, Dodgers, Reds, Marlins and Giants. He owns a robust career line of .282 with a .349 OBP, .563 slugging mark and .912 OPS against lefties (with the caveat that he hit just .234/.336/.362/.698 against southpaws in 2011, and went from one strikeout per 5.8 plate appearances against lefties through 2010 to one per every 4.8 plate appearances in 2011).

The Sox said from the beginning of the offseason that they would like to add a right-handed hitting outfielder. Ross, who has played primarily center field while also spending extended time in both left and right in his career, would seemingly fit that bill.

Ross joins an outfield mix that now includes Carl Crawford in left (when he returns from wrist surgery), Jacoby Ellsbury in center and the left-handed Ryan Sweeney, right-handed Darnell McDonald and right-handed Ross. Sweeney, McDonald and Ross are all capable of playing all three outfield positions. The addition of Ross suggests that the Sox will be in position to use Mike Aviles primarily — if not exclusively — at shortstop.

The Sox had been interested in Ross throughout the offseason, but the team felt that it needed to clear some payroll in order to add him (or a player like him). The deal sending Marco Scutaro to the Rockies gave the Sox new financial flexbility to explore such deals, as it removed $7.67 million from the team’s payroll (as calculated for luxury tax purposes).