Who will make the 25-man roster for Opening Day?
By Earl Nash
Before the media melodrama begins about players who will be cut from the Red Sox roster and cast into the darkness, let’s sort the remaining contestants in the “25-man roster” Sweepstakes into groups, so we can tell who will transmogrify into baseball ghosts and who will be just a phone call away from Fenway.
[NOTE: Carlos Silva, a victim of his attitude and injury, drifted into the ghost category, when he was released outright.]
PHONE CALL AWAY
The first cohort includes players who have been “cut” and are now out of the running, but still belong to the Red Sox.
Reassigned: RHPs Tony Pena Jr., Chorye Spoone and Alex Wilson and OF Juan Carlos Linares to minor league camp.
Optioned: to AA Portland Sea Dogs: Stolmy Pimentel, Drake Britton, Oscar Tejeda.
Optioned: to AAA Pawtucket Red Sox: Will Middlebrooks, Che-Hsuan Lin.
OUT OF MINOR LEAGUE OPTIONS
The next group involves the most urgent decisions; six players who are “out of options”–Matt Albers, Andrew Miller, Franklin Morales, Michael Bowden, Felix Doubront–who are currently on 40-man protected roster. If any of these six players fails to make the 25-man Opening Day roster, the Red Sox will have to expose each to waivers and risk losing him.
Matt Albers is a near lock to make the 25-man roster and Franklin Morales is even odds.
NON-ROSTER INVITEES
The third group, the “Non-roster invitees” includes: Justin Germano, Will Inman, Doug Mathis, Ross Ohlendorf, Vicente Padilla, Justin Thomas, Scott Atchison , Jesse Carlson , Aaron Cook, Brandon Duckworth.
Three pitchers in this group still have a chance to make the 25-man roster: Cook, Padilla, and Ohlendorf.
40-MAN ROSTER
Alfredo Aceves, Clayton Mortensen, Junichi Tazawa, Chris Carpenter, Rich Hill
Aceves is a double-lock; Valentine sees Alfredo as a rare gem: a swing man. The rest are likely to be offered a trip to Portland or Pawtucket.
SIGNED WITH SOX FOR 2012
Another group includes players who have signed contracts with the Red Sox organization; on March 9th general manager Ben Cherington announced those 16 players: Catchers Ryan Lavarnway and Luis Exposito were among those to sign. Pitchers Chris Carpenter, Drake Britton, Junichi Tazawa, Felix Doubront, Mark Melancon, Michael Bowden, Stolmy Pimentel and Clayton Mortenson all agreed to terms. Also, Will Middlebrooks, Lars Anderson and Oscar Tejeda inked deals to solidify the infield and Ryan Kalish, Che-Hsuan Lin and Darnell McDonald agreed to backup the outfield spots.
Boston Red Sox Active Roster (current)
Manager Valentine has hinted that he will favor keeping an extra pitcher over a third catcher, so expect Lavarnway to be reassigned to Portland and Esposito to Pawtucket.
Although prospect Lars Anderson has finally found his groove, with Ortiz and Youkilis on the 1b depth chart ahead of him, he will go to Portland, where he may be asked to play OF to increase his chances of making the 25-man roster in 2013.
Pitchers likely to be reassigned: Hill, Mortensen, Junichi, Tazawa.
Bowden will be dropped from the “protected” roster and will be exposed to the waiver claims gauntlet.
DL
John Lackey, mercifully, is not expected to return until 2013, but Dice-K may be available after the All-Star break and has impressed manager Bobby.
To check for updates on the Active Roster: http://redsox.mlb.com/team/roster_active.jsp?c_id=bos
Check for transactions here: http://mlb.mlb.com/team/transactions.jsp?c_id=bos#month=3&year=2012&team_id=111
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