First Red Sox Lineups of the Season

Tonight’s game against Northeastern will be broadcast on WEEI, while both boxscores will be available at MLB.com. Welcome to 2008, folks.

Boston College, 1:05pm		Northeastern, 6:05pm
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF		Coco Crisp, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B		Alex Cora, 2B
David Ortiz, DH		J.D. Drew, RF
Mike Lowell, 3B		Manny Ramirez, DH
Jason Varitek, C		Sean Casey, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B		Chris Carter, LF
Julio Lugo, SS		Doug Mirabelli, C
Bobby Kielty, RF		Jed Lowrie, SS
Brandon Moss, LF		Keith Ginter, 3B
Josh Beckett		Justin Masterson
Kyle Snyder		Craig Hansen
Javier Lopez		Michael Bowden
Manny Delcarmen		Craig Breslow
Bryan Corey		Hunter Jones
		Kyle Jackson

Sources Say Bartolo Colon Signs with Red Sox

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com is reporting that the Red Sox and Bartolo Colon have agreed to a minor league deal. No word yet on the money, or if he has an opt-out clause (he probably will).

All winter long there was not that much positive news coming out of the Dominican Winter League about Colon, he was getting lit up and only throwing 88-91. However, coming off his rotator cuff injury, among other ailments, I suppose just the fact he was throwing was a positive. Velocity is not my major concern here, I am more interested in seeing if he still command, if he does he can still get outs.

This move does two things; it allows the Red Sox to start Clay Buchholz in Pawtucket for a month or two to limit his innings and make it so that he does not have the service time to reach free agency a year sooner than we would like. However, that is unlikly and would only happen if Colon came into camp throwing amazingly. It also guards against injury in the early part of the season since Colon will likely open up with the PawSox.

Like I said earlier, I imagine that Colon has an opt-out in his contract. Something like if he is not in the majors by May 15th he can become a free agent. All-in-all, this deal does not have any downside and provides some nice insurance (however, it would have been nice to get our hands on him a half decade ago or so).

EDIT, Feb 25: There is an opt-out clause in his contract, however Theo Epstein will not reveal the date.

Red Sox Spring Training Broadcast Info

Using the information I could find listed on the web, I put together a listing of all exhibition games against Major League and Japanese teams that will be on radio, TV, or both. So far only the first four games have expected pitchers.

Thursday, Feb. 28	Sox vs. N’eastern	6:00p	WEEI			Masterson, Hansen, Bowden
Friday, Feb. 29	Sox vs. Twins	7:00p	WRKO	NESN		Mastsuzaka, Tavarez, Okajima
Saturday, Mar. 1	Sox vs. Twins	1:00p	WRKO			Lester, Hansack, Pauley
Sunday, Mar. 2	Sox vs. Twins	1:00p	WRKO	NESN		Wakefield, Buchholz
Wednesday, Mar. 5	Sox vs. Reds	1:00p	WEEI
Thursday, Mar. 6	Sox vs. Dodgers	1:00p		ESPN
Saturday, Mar. 8	Sox vs. Marlins	1:00p	WRKO
Sunday, Mar. 9	Sox vs. Dodgers	1:00p	WRKO	NESN
Saturday, Mar. 15	Sox vs. Reds	1:00p	WRKO
Sunday, Mar. 16	Sox vs. Pirates	1:00p	WRKO	NESN
Monday, Mar. 17	Sox vs. Yankees	1:15p		NESN
Wednesday, Mar. 19	Sox vs. Jays	12:00p	WEEI	NESN	ESPN
Friday, Mar. 21	Sox vs. NPB Japan	11:00p	WRKO
Sunday, Mar. 23	Sox vs. NPB Japan	6:00a	WRKO
Friday, Mar. 28	Sox vs. Dodgers	10:35p	WRKO
Saturday, Mar. 29	Sox vs. Dodgers	10:05p	WRKO	NESN
Sunday, Mar. 30	Sox vs. Dodgers	4:05p	WRKO

With Schilling Injured, do Blanton and Baker become Trade Targets?

While the news about Curt Schilling’s injured shoulder is troubling, especially if we cannot get his contract voided, it does make me wonder if Theo Epstein will look to trade for another arm.

There are two names I am interested in right now that are “reasonable” trade targets, Joe Blanton of the Oakland A’s and Scott Baker of the Minnesota Twins.

Blanton is a workhorse of a pitcher who doesn’t have dominating strikeout rates, but took a major leap forward last season with his control. That said, is the new-found control for real? In 2005 and 2006 he was a 1.75 K/BB pitcher, which is not all the impressive, however last season that number jumped to an elite 3.50 K/BB. You have to assume he will settle somewhere in the middle and end up a really good middle of the rotation pitcher who will eat a lot of innings. The problem is Billy Beane, the A’s GM, is going to ask for a package of top prospects (he will not want Coco Crisp, so don’t ask) in return and that is not going to happen if you ask me.

Baker is an interesting pitcher; he is a control artist who has dominated in the minor leagues and finally had some major league success last year. There were also some musings around that the Red Sox have previously inquired about his availability. The Twins, as we know, are looking for a stopgap centerfielder who can give Carlos Gomes time to mature as a player in the minor leagues. Crisp might be in play here, and if we include cash and another prospect that the Twins showed interest in during Santana discussions we might have something.

Of course, it would be nice to know what the actual issue with Schilling is, and until we do, or see that Theo has made a trade, this is all just crazy Red Sox speculation.

Sean Casey Signs with Red Sox in a Reserve Role

Theo Epstein brought in yet another great clubhouse presence in Sean Casey who will be used as corner infield insurance and as a bat off the bench in 2008. Casey will be able to play some first base early in the season in an attempt to keep Kevin Youkilis from fading in the second half of the season as he has done in each of the last two seasons. Plus, in the event of a Mike Lowell injury, you could feel somewhat comfortable with Casey at first base and Youkilis shifting to third base.

Casey’s power is pretty much gone at this point, however, he is still a good average hitter with on-base skills. He should also benefit from hitting the ball towards the Monster when playing at home.

It will now be interesting to see what happens with Coco Crisp. Casey essentially replaces Eric Hinske, but is not an outfield option like Hinske was. Thus, the Sox seem a little thin in that area. Brad Wilkerson, who spurned the Red Sox to sign with the Mariners, has the ability to play both first base and in the outfield, received a one year $3 million deal, while Casey signed for $800,000.