RED SOX : News & Notes March 16,2014.

RED SOX : NEWS & NOTES
March 16,2014.





 ~Inglesias injury could send Drew to Tigers : Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias is dealing with a shin injury that could cause him to miss much of the season according to Jim Bowden of ESPN.com. The severity of the injury has raised speculation that the Tigers will pursue free agent Steven Drew.Iglesias, who last played on Feb. 27, is dealing with a tibial stress reaction, or severe shin splints. He has seen two specialists and had to be shut down from running on Friday.Drew would give the Tigers a reliable replacement for Iglesias. But it's not certain if Detroit would be willing to offer Drew a multi-year deal or whether Drew would be willing to change positions once Iglesias returns.If the Tigers sign Drew, they would forfeit their first-round draft pick, No. 23 overall. That would bump the Red Sox up to No. 25 overall.The Sox would get a supplemental first-round pick, No. 33 overall, as compensation for Drew. That also would move up their compensation pick for Jacoby Ellsbury to No. 32.In other words, if Drew signs the Red Sox would have three of the first 32 picks in what is said to be a deep draft.

~Bradley Jr. still center fielder : ThoughGrady Sizemore has impressed everyone with his camp thus far, manager John Farrell indicated on Saturday that Jackie Bradley Jr. is still the favorite to be the team's Opening Day center fielder."We came into camp with Jackie as the guy," Farrell said. "We projected him as the starting center fielder, and I don't think anything has radically changed that thought. But we can't deny the thought that Grady Sizemore has looked very well in camp."Sizemore hasn't played in the Majors since 2011, so there are questions that still need answers."We're still in the process of trying to get our arms around his durability," said Farrell. "We'll extend him a little bit [Saturday night], where he's going to go, maybe seven or eight innings, possibly a full game, so we're starting to get a little more of a test, and maybe answers to some of those tests."Sizemore wound up playing eight innings against the Phillies on Saturday and went 1-for-4. He will take Sunday off and probably return to action on Monday against the Cardinals."I didn't think much of it, just another game," Sizemore said. "But everything felt good, started off feeling good, finished feeling good, so see how I come in tomorrow and build off of that."
The way the roster is currently constructed, it would be hard for both Sizemore and Bradley to make the team."I can't say we wouldn't do that," Farrell said. "But there's also limits to the roster. And I think the one thing I have said many times, the one thing we've benefited from is a deep and talented roster. Early in the season, you want as many of those players as you can. If that causes decisions one way or the other to keep the many good players you have, that's something we'll arrive at before we break here."While it's certainly possible the Red Sox could see if Sizemore was interested in playing in extended Spring Training, that scenario hasn't been discussed yet in any formal capacity."We haven't gotten to that point," Farrell said. "We wanted to take a look at Spring Training itself and see how things unfolded, because before games were played or before we even got onto the field, we didn't know how he was going to respond physically to the day to day volume. And it's been favorable."His timing at the plate has looked very good. He might say otherwise based on his own comfort level, but just outwardly looking at him, he doesn't look like he's missed two years."Sizemore drilled a single up the middle to lead off the bottom of the first in Saturday's game.

~Minor injury for Middlebrooks : Third baseman Will Middlebrooks was held out of the lineup for the second day in a row because of a minor finger injury. He is expected to return on Sunday at Port Charlotte against the Rays."We're giving him a little bit of a breather, particularly on his right middle finger," said Farrell. "He hyper-extended it the other day on a slide at second base when he stole second over at Minnesota. We fully expect him to be in the lineup tomorrow, or no later than the next day, but we just felt that we should get ahead of it right now."

~Breslow update : Though he hasn't pitched in a game yet, lefty reliever Craig Breslow is still on track to start the season on the active roster."He's still in position to be on time," Farrell said. "He had a very good bullpen yesterday. We're anticipating he'll see hitters by the second half of this week and soon to be in a game."

~Red Sox working on basestealers : The Red Sox have been one of the worst teams in the Majors at throwing out basestealers. Farrell said that improving that is a point of emphasis this spring."It's ongoing," Farrell said. "We've got a number of things in play right now with the communication between the bench, the catcher and through the pitcher. And yet you balance. You prioritize pitch execution, first and foremost. If there is one pitcher that might be a little longer of an unloading time, you try to combat that with holding the ball and some picks."But from the mound standpoint, we're doing everything we can to give that guy a chance to throw and cut down a would-be basestealer."