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The Boston Red Sox thought they had Jonathan Papelbon's replacement in Andrew Bailey, but the closer might not be ready to step in for a while.

Red Sox team doctors examined Bailey, and a team source told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes that he expects the right-hander to have surgery on the injured thumb of his pitching hand. Bailey will get a second opinion from Dr. Robert Graham in Cleveland and could undergo a procedure later Tuesday if the doctor agrees with the diagnosis. It's not clear how long Bailey would be out if he needs surgery.

Red Sox starter Josh Beckett also will visit Graham on Tuesday to have the injured thumb on his pitching hand checked out, according to a FoxSports.com report. He saw Dr. Mark Bagg in San Antonio on Monday and wants another opinion to ease his mind.

The Red Sox have said Beckett will make his scheduled first start Saturday at Detroit.

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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A few takeaways from the Fort, where “getaway day” included a 4-2 Red Sox victory over the Nationals, who could take over Boston’s former digs at City of Palms Park in 2014 and join the Red Sox and Twins in southwest Florida:

Worthless paper: What do the pundits’ predictions mean? Not a lot, according to outfielder Darnell McDonald.

Most preseason magazines and publications have the Red Sox finishing third in the AL East and failing to secure either of the two wild cards. Sports Illustrated even warns that the Blue Jays could topple the Red Sox, whom SI describes as “fundamentally the same team” despite the arrival of Bobby Valentine.

“A lot of them had us winning the World Series last year, so that stuff doesn’t mean anything,” McDonald said. “That’s why we play the game. How many picked the Cardinals to win last year? It’s all about playing well at the right time and finishing strong. Everything else will take care of itself.”

Valentine’s only prediction as the Red Sox break camp is that the team will look like it has put in the work.

“From our room -- the coaches’ and manager’s room -- I think we’re very satisfied that every facet of the game of baseball has been prepared, and I think prepared properly,” Valentine said before the game.

After the game, summing up six weeks in Florida, he quipped: “I didn’t think I’d last this long so it’s kind of a pleasant surprise for me. It was great. Me personally, I enjoyed it. We played the way I thought we would. Got a lot of work done. So I’m ready to leave Florida, and I think the guys are too.”

Pleasant surprise: Aaron Cook was brilliant in five innings, giving up just two hits and one run while commanding a very effective sinker.

Cook, who missed all of the Rockies’ spring training last season and was on the 60-day disabled list with a fractured finger, finished spring training with a 1.91 ERA in 15 1/3 innings.

“It’s been very productive,” Cook said. “To be able to go out and stay healthy all spring, not miss any starts and not have any setbacks, that’s something that hasn’t happened the last couple of years. So to take that away this year is a definite plus.

“I’m going to go to Pawtucket, make a few starts, just try to stay ready, build my pitch count, get deep into games and see what happens.”

Said Valentine, “Coming in, I didn’t expect him to be giving us five pretty good innings the last day of spring training, so it’s a very pleasant development. It’s great to have that kind of depth in our starting rotation.”

Serious sellouts: The Red Sox sold out all 16 home games and set a team spring training attendance record with 151,713.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said he "totally" expects No. 2 starter Josh Beckett to make his scheduled start Saturday in Detroit, despite a right thumb injury he will be examined for in San Antonio.

"He's had a little situation that he's taking care of today -- just for peace of mind," Valentine said.

Valentine said Beckett threw 100 pitches Sunday in a controlled bullpen session and "felt great." It remains unclear how Beckett injured his thumb. Valentine said Beckett has "a little history with it," saying it's not a blister but "just a little situation."

"It's been a little hard to quite put our thumb on it," Valentine quipped. "What was really good about the last couple of times he's thrown is that he had good command.

"I feel real good today, from all reports we got after yesterday, and he said he felt really good, and I talked to the trainers and Bob (pitching coach Bob McClure) and his high school coach.

"I feel really good right now. As in all cases, you have to be prepared, and I think we are. We are covered no matter what happens."

About an hour earlier, Alfredo Aceves had said he was told to be prepared to start for Beckett on Saturday and also the home opener on April 13. Aceves had been told Sunday that he had failed in his bid to get one of the final two spots in the rotation, losing out to Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard.

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Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling has caused a minor stir among Red Sox fans over the last week with his pointed opinion that perhaps Bobby Valentine isn’t the right fit for the Red Sox.

Currently an ESPN analyst, Schilling first made the comments on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight when talking about Valentine’s perceived mismanaging of the Daniel Bard situation and continued on various Boston sports radio talk shows.

One of the remarks seemed to indicate Schilling wasn’t just spouting off, rather giving an informed opinion on what was going on in the Red Sox clubhouse.

“When you talk to these (Red Sox players) -- and I'm still talking to some of these guys -- I don't think this is going well (with Valentine),” Schilling said in interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI. “And I think it's going bad quicker than I expected it to."

It’s still unclear how much of what Schilling is saying is strictly his opinion and how much is based on conversations he’s having with Red Sox players.

Schilling was saying more of the same Monday in an interview with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio, again sensing an “oil and water” mix between Bobby V and the players on the team.

Here’s an excerpt (full video above):

“I like Bobby, a lot. I think he’s a good guy. Very smart guy. I think he has an incredible passion, he’s a baseball lifer. Those things don’t always translate. Just because you want to be something doesn’t mean you can be. I didn’t feel like that was the right fit here.

“Then I came back after his (introductory) press conference, I thought, ‘Wow this guy’s changed, things are different.’ But I’m not so sure they are. I think that (the players are) going to deal with a lot of the things in the media and on the publicity side of this that with maybe somebody else here they wouldn’t. And I don’t think that’s a good thing here in Boston. I think the Bard situation was mishandled. I think there’s some cryptic stuff going on.

“I know it’s simplistic, but I think the day and age of managing 25 players as one unit are over. As much as I don’t like to say they, we’re at a different time and a different era. The manager’s impact of wins and losses I think has changed more in baseball than any professional sport. I think they have very little to do with the 9 innings and 3 hours of game play each night. I think their jobs have become, I’d say babysitting, but I think their jobs have become managing personnel. And Bobby is a guy that is interested in trying to making you understand how much he knows about the game.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think Buck Showalter is the same way. They’re very smart baseball people. Players don’t grow up living and breathing the game anymore. I came up to the big leagues I knew the stats of Frank Robinson long before I played for Frank Robinson. I was a huge baseball fan.

"That’s not the case anymore. I think that there’s less of an appreciation for baseball IQ than there used to be. I think that’s one of Bobby’s strengths, but I don’t know if that serves him well in this clubhouse or in this market.

“There’s way more structure and discipline in Japan (where Valentine last managed) than there is in the United Staes. It’s not even close. And that to me is a big deal. Over here, one of the reasons Terry (Francona) was able to do what he did was because he didn’t worry about the little stuff. And Bobby’s entire life is caught up in the little stuff. Micromanaging bunt drills, I don’t think that’s a problem. I don’t think that was ever a problem here to begin with.

“I just feel like this is not going to go the way people had hoped. I thought there were different choices that could have been made here (to be manager), from a personality perspective, knowing some of the guys on this team. I’m not so sure that this isn’t going to be an oil and a water mix early on, especially if they don’t get out to a really good start.”

Boston Red Sox starter Josh Beckett is headed to San Antonio to have a thumb injury examined, the team confirmed Monday morning, and is questionable to make his first start of the season in Detroit on April 7. According to reports, Alfredo Aceves said he was told to be prepared to make that start and the home opener on April 13 in case Beckett is not available.

Aceves was informed Sunday that he was the odd man out in the race for the final two spots in the rotation, losing out to Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard. Now, it appears he could be making starts after all, depending on the prognosis on Beckett.

Beckett threw a controlled bullpen session on Sunday and his thumb injury was not mentioned as an issue.

Beckett’s thumb injury is the second one to hit the Red Sox pitching staff in the past two days. Closer Andrew Bailey might miss the start of the regular season with a thumb injury of his own.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine is schedule to address reporters on Beckett around 11 a.m.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Here is the lineup for Monday’s game against the Nationals, the last game of the spring at Fenway South:

RED SOX
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. David Ortiz, DH
6. Darnell McDonald, LF
7. Ryan Sweeney, RF
8. Mike Aviles, SS
9. Kelly Shoppach, C
SP -- Aaron Cook, RHP

Also scheduled to pitch: RHP Matt Albers, RHP Mark Melancon, RHP Vicente Padilla.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A few takeaways from the Fort, where the Atlas moving van was nearly completely packed before the Red Sox took the field and went on to a 5-1 victory over the Twins:

Cody Ross -- Juggler and contortionist: Cody Ross was a contortionist in the fourth inning, when he twisted his body unsuccessfully to avoid an inside pitch from Twins starter Carl Pavano and was hit in the back.

Pavano managed to cool off Ross’ RBI binge with that wayward pitch. But in the sixth, Ross -- who came into the game tied for the major-league spring training lead with six homers and a team-leading 15 RBIs -- roughed up Pavano with an RBI double down the third-base line.

Ross was a juggler about three hours before the game. Credit MLB Network analyst and former Red Sox first baseman Sean Casey with uncovering a skill we didn’t know Ross had.

Casey, who was filming segments here Sunday, allowed Ross to dazzle him by juggling three baseballs.

“Oh, man! You’ve got a lot of talents!” Casey shouted, giving Ross a bear hug.

Pitching prowess: Vicente Padilla, Scott Atchison, Justin Thomas, Garrett Mock and Brock Huntzinger combined to hold the Twins to just five hits. Padilla gave up two hits in 1 2/3 innings, striking out two.

Roster rundown: With Ryan Lavarnway being optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket, the Red Sox have 40 players in big-league camp, including 29 from the 40-man roster, two on the 60-day disabled list and nine nonroster invitees.

Seriously, Ciriaco: Pedro Ciriaco probably wishes spring training could continue, oh, forever. Already sporting a .400/.625/1.054 line, he replaced Kevin Youkilis in the sixth and promptly stole second and third, then scored on Ross’ double. In the seventh, he blistered a double. He’s now hitting .415.

Monday means moving: Immediately after Monday’s game, the Red Sox will bus to the airport for a flight to Washington, D.C., where they play the Nationals on Tuesday in the final exhibition game before Thursday’s opener at Detroit.

With Bobby Valentine settling on the makeup of his rotation and the Sox sending catcher Ryan Lavarnway to Pawtucket, the opening day roster still has some uncertainty.

The biggest wrinkle came Sunday when Valentine made cryptic comments about an injury in the bullpen. All signs point to would-be closer Andrew Bailey, who has pitched only in one minor-league game in the past 10 days. Bailey had a strained lat muscle early in camp, and Valentine confirmed later Sunday that Bailey is dealing with an injured right thumb.

The uncertainty surrounding Bailey could lead Valentine to carry an extra arm in the bullpen. It had seemed infielders Pedro Ciriaco and Nate Spears and outfielder Jason Repko were the contenders for the final roster spot, but if the Sox decide they need a 13th pitcher instead, all three could be on the outside looking in.

With Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard set as starters and Alfredo Aceves, Mark Melancon, Matt Albers, Franklin Morales and Vicente Padilla seemingly locks in the bullpen, there could be slots for three more relievers if Bailey starts the season on the disabled list and Valentine opts for the extra arm, which Valentine said Sunday was a possibility.

Valentine said Aaron Cook is not an option for the bullpen, indicating pitching coach Bob McClure doesn't think Cook's shoulder would respond to that duty, leaving Cook to start the season at Pawtucket. That would seem to leave Scott Atchison, Michael Bowden and Justin Thomas possibilities to open the season in the Boston bullpen.

Valentine isn't expected to announce the makeup of the roster until Monday at the earliest. The Red Sox play the Nationals on Monday in Florida and Tuesday in Washington before opening the season Thursday at Detroit.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Here is the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Twins:

RED SOX
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. David Ortiz, DH
6. Cody Ross, LF
7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
8. Ryan Sweeney, RF
9. Mike Aviles, SS
SP -- Vicente Padilla

“I’ll bet that’s the lineup you’re going to see during the season," manager Bobby Valentine said. "Those are some pretty good players. I’ll take my chances with that lineup.”

Of course, Valentine eventually will be working Carl Crawford into the lineup as well.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- And the answer is ...

Not yet.

Even after Daniel Bard struck out seven in six innings in a 9-7 win over the Minnesota Twins Friday, manager Bobby Valentine was not ready to declare a winner in the Great Red Sox Starting Rotation Lottery, whose payoff pales compared to Megamillions but still could have a great bearing on how the Red Sox do in the American League East this season.

"Bard looked good,'' Valentine said. "He ran out of gas a little, and got a little careless there with the leadoff hitter (walk) and a three-run lead (entering the sixth, when the Twins scored twice). A good learning experience. He threw the ball well, he did good.''

His progression since the start of camp in the conversion from reliever to starter?

"Basically where we hoped he could be and where he hoped he could be,'' Valentine said. "He wanted to come here and build, figure out all those nuances. I don't know if he figured out all of them, you still have to have some growing pains and experience. But I think physically, he got to be where he wants to be and he's a smart kid.''

OK, then, can you say what his role will be?

"No,'' he said. "We have a depth of starting pitching now. No doubt about it. As soon as you say that, you need another one. Sorry I said it."

Valentine had said before Friday's game that Bard was not pitching for his role in that afternoon's start. The pitcher looked at it a bit differently. He said it was hard not to think about it.

"At the same time,'' he said, "it's no different than pitching in a big game, when there's something riding on it. For me, it was more personal -- what my role's going to be. Hopefully sometime this season I'll be pitching in a big game and it'll be team oriented, something riding on it. But it's the same deal. There's that added pressure. That's fun. It gives you extra adrenaline.''

Did he think he was pitching for his spot in the rotation?

"It's hard to say,'' he said. "I talked to Bobby and Mac (pitching coavh Bob McClure) and haven't got a real clear answer. But at the same time up till yesterday, we had a conversation, they were still real positive--'Hey we want you to do this and fully commit to it.' I feel like I have their support.''

It's hard to fathom that the Sox would continue to press the case for starting with him and then reverse field, but Bard was not taking anything for granted. Technically, four candidates remain for the two spots--left-hander Felix Doubront, right-hander Alfredo Aceves, right-hander Aaron Cook and Bard.

"Ace and Cook and Doobie all had good springs, too, and are all good friends of mine,'' he said. "We're going to have a good pitching staff.

"It's a matter of what they want to go with. I feel like I have the potential to be a really good starter. It's a matter of opportunity.''

Bard issued a four-pitch walk to Joe Mauer with two out in the first, then gave up a gap double to Justin Morneau that scored a run. He then set down 13 of the next 14 batters he faced, striking out 7, a leadoff single by Mauer in the fourth accounting for the only Minnesota base-runner.

He walked Denard Span to open the sixth and then threw wildly to first on a pickoff attempt, Span advancing and scoring on a groundball single up the middle by Mauer. Morneau popped out, but a walk and bloop single by Sean Burroughs made it 4-3 before Luke Hughes popped out to end the inning.

Bard threw 95 pitches, 53 for strikes.

"The day felt good,'' he said. "I had four pitches working a good chunk of the game. I kind of was really cruising up until the sixth, I think getting through the lineup that third time, I got the feeling they'd seen everything I got, because I had really mixed it up a lot. I tried to be a little too perfect with pitches, which usually ends up the opposite from perfect. Which is kind of what happened.

"It was two runs, but at the same time I was able to limit the damage with a couple of popups there. I tried to focus on the big picture. I thought it was a good outing.''

The Red Sox break camp here Monday after an exhibition with the Washington Nationals. They play the Nationals again on Tuesday in D.C., then travel to Detroit for their regular season opener next Thursday. Bard said he has been told that if he ends up in the rotation, he would stay behind here and pitch five or six innings in a camp game, then meet the team in Detroit.

"It's got to be soon,'' Bard said when asked when he expected to hear a decision. "I mean, they've seen all they need to see, and all they can see. I got to think we'll know something by [Saturday], but that's just my guess.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Daniel Bard makes his last spring training start Friday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins, with the final composition of the Red Sox starting rotation yet to be announced.

Nonetheless, manager Bobby Valentine insisted Bard is not pitching for his spot in the rotation against the Twins. So, does that mean the decision has been made?

"It hasn't really been made,'' Valentine said. "I think the decision that he can start has been made, that he is capable of starting.''

Valentine had hinted Thursday that other "situations" might come into play that could impact the rotation. Did that include roster tweaking?

"Not really,'' he said. "You never know. Something comes up.''

It appears, then, that the Sox want to make certain that Bard makes it through his start healthy before informing the four pitchers still in the running -- Bard, Alfredo Aceves, Felix Doubront and Aaron Cook -- of the team's decision.

Doubront and Bard would appear to have the inside track, with Aceves returning to the pen and Cook beginning the season in Triple-A. But that remains an educated guess.

* Valentine revealed his thinking regarding how he plans to deploy his outfielders in the absence of Carl Crawford. Cody Ross will play left and Ryan Sweeney right when both are in the lineup, while Ross will switch to right and Darnell McDonald will play left when they are together. Valentine does not foresee Sweeney playing any left.

* Nick Punto is starting at first base Friday, while Adrian Gonzalez amasses as many at-bats as he wants in minor-league games Friday. Punto has played 35 innings at second and 11 at third. None, interestingly, at short, which supports the possibility that Pedro Ciriaco could make the club. Valentine said it will be useful to have Punto get a little work over at first, though he added Kevin Youkilis said he would be willing to cross the diamond if necessary.

* Andrew Miller is scheduled to throw a side session Saturday and an inning of a minor-league game on Monday. Rich Hill is scheduled to pitch an inning in a simulated game on Saturday.

* Ross Ohlendorf will start against the Rays on Saturday. Vicente Padilla draws the Twins on Sunday, and Aaron Cook gets the Nationals on Tuesday. Jon Lester and Josh Beckett will both pitch in minor-league games, Lester on Saturday morning and Beckett Sunday.

Here are today’s lineups:

RED SOX
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. Jarrod Saltalmacchia, C
6. Cody Ross, LF
7. Ryan Sweeney, RF
8. Mike Aviles, SS
9. Nick Punto, 1B
SP -- Daniel Bard, RHP

TWINS
1. Denard Span, cf
2. Brian Dozier, ss
3. Joe Mauer, c
4. Justin Morneau, DH
5. Josh Willingham LF
6. Sean Burroughs, 3B
7. Luke Hughes, 1B
8. Trevor Plouffe, RF
9. Michael Hollimon, 2B
SP -- Nick Blackburn, RHP

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said he doesn't expect to see Carl Crawford bat against live pitching before the team breaks camp here Monday, adding that he expects the left fielder will need a minor-league rehab assignment before he rejoins the major league club.

Valentine said Crawford, who underwent surgery on his left wrist in the offseason, was limited to bunting practice on Thursday.

"I don't think it's likely,'' Valentine said of seeing Crawford hit before the team heads north next week. "You don't want to put the kid, anyone rehabbing, under the pressure of a deadline. It can never be the calendar or the schedule that says when a guy is healthy. It's not fair.''

Valentine initially said it "might be realistic" to think that Crawford would be back in a couple of weeks, but then acknowledged a rehab assignment would push that back.

"Are we going to ask him to get 50 at-bats somewhere? Probably,'' Valentine said. "You got to do the math on that one. That's 15 games. ... When you add 15 games from the time he starts playing, I think we have a target. It's not a bull's-eye.''

We found this segment on Bobby Valentine from ESPN.com senior writer Jayson Stark's baseball preview piece noteworthy:

This felt like a tremendous marriage the day an emotional Bobby V was introduced to the media and the masses in Boston back on Dec. 1. But that day "seems like eight years ago now," Valentine said this spring.

Are you worried that Valentine won't end up being be a good fit for the Red Sox?

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  49%
  Yes
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  51%
  No

(Total votes: 12,250)

"It was a good feeling," the manager reminisced. "I haven't had that feeling in a long time. So you enjoy it for a couple of minutes. Then reality sets in."

And that reality, it turns out, hasn't been quite so euphoric -- to the point that scouts covering the Red Sox are already worried about Valentine's fit for this job. Listen to the words of one scout who once worked with Bobby V in a prior incarnation:

"He's a brilliant baseball guy," the scout said. "It's just, the other stuff gets in the way of the brilliance so easily. … His intellect gets in the way. He's always trying to win that chess match. Everything has to be a tug o' war."

Valentine is so different from Terry Francona, everyone knew this mix could turn tense at some point. But "I just didn't think it would happen this fast," the same scout said.

"I hate to say it, but these players could stick it to him," he went on. "It'll be all or nothing. I don't think there can be anything in between with this bunch. If things don't start out all rosy, I worry that he could lose control of that club quickly. He's dealing with some high-maintenance guys. They proved that last year. And they're just not used to a guy who can be this honest. He's been The Story too much this spring. And these players could easily get tired of it."

We still think Bobby Valentine was the right choice for the Red Sox in this time and place. But we agree with the scouts who have warned us all spring: "This thing bears watching."

Are you worried that Valentine won't end up being be a good fit for the Red Sox? Why or why not? Vote in the poll above and sound off in the comments section.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A few pitching notes from the Fort, where a CBS News crew headed by Mo Rocca showed up in camp for a little Bobby V action. Here's hoping it ends up on CBS Sunday Morning, one of the enduring, great television magazine shows around.

* Aaron Cook would appear unlikely to break camp with the Sox, but he is going to help this team. In a Double-A minor-league game against Tampa Bay, Cook pitched an "inning" in which he retired all six batters he faced on ground balls, throwing 13 pitches, 9 for strikes. The sinkerballer worked the equivalent of 5 innings, allowing 5 hits and a run, did not walk a batter and struck out 3. He had 11 ground-ball outs.

* Vicente Padilla, pitching in the same game, went 3 innings, allowing a hit and hitting a batter. He threw 41 pitches, 23 for strikes, and looks like a lock for a bullpen spot.

* In the Triple-A game, Clay Buchholz pitched six innings, throwing 89 pitches, 57 for strikes.

* Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a couple of innings in an intrasquad game, and the most impressive aspect of that is he is only 9 1/2 months out of Tommy John surgery. Bobby Valentine has said Matsuzaka could return closer to June 1 than July 1.

* Most impressively, closer Andrew Bailey worked an inning and two-thirds, throwing 26 pitches, 21 for strikes.

* Shortstop Jose Iglesias, by the way, hit a three-run home run in the Triple-A game.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Good morning from the Fort, where the Red Sox are not scheduled to play a game Wednesday, the schedulemakers having blessed them with just their second day off of the spring.

Or as Darnell McDonald, whose Twitter handle is MacDime54, tweeted Wednesday morning: @RedSox hope everyone enjoys their last off day of the spring before its #GoTime

It will not be a day off for everyone. Pitchers Clay Buchholz and Aaron Cook are scheduled to start in minor-league games Wednesday, while closer Andrew Bailey is also scheduled to get some work in.

"I'm sleeping in this morning,'' manager Bobby Valentine said Tuesday. "I won't be getting here until 7:15.''

With the Sox idle, we thought this might be a good time to catch up on how some recently departed Sox players are doing with their new teams:

* Marco Scutaro (traded to Colorado for reliever Clayton Mortensen): Scutaro, the Sox shortstop for the last two seasons, will open the season at second base for the Rockies, who would like to bat him in the No. 2 hole. Scutaro didn't hit this spring, batting .188 as of Wednesday, but he had drawn 11 walks, which is 11 more than Mike Aviles, and had a .391 on-base percentage.

* Josh Reddick (traded to Oakland for closer Andrew Bailey): Reddick won the starting right fielder's job for the Athletics, batting .333 this spring, and went 0 for 4 in the team's season-opening 3-1 loss to the Mariners in Japan this morning. The Athletics also received two prospects in the deal, first baseman Miles Head and pitcher Raul Alcantara. Head was rated the 13th best prospect in the Sox system, while Alcantara, one of the best young arms the Sox had out of the Dominican Republic, was ranked 27th and is just 19.

* Jed Lowrie (traded to Houston for reliever Mark Melancon): Lowrie will be the Astros' Opening Day shortstop and has posted a team-leading 1.043 OPS this spring. Hitting coach Mike Barnett said a slight change in the position of Lowrie's head is enabling him to see the ball better from the left side. Lowrie also has started his own photography website, jl4photography.com.

* Kyle Weiland (traded to Houston along with Lowrie): Weiland is bidding for a job as the Astros' fifth starter, going 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA. Even if he doesn't win that, he appears headed to the bullpen.

* Jonathan Papelbon (signed as a free agent by the Phillies): Papelbon has made 9 appearances this spring for the Phillies and has allowed one run while holding opponents to a .212 batting average. He is in the first year of a four-year, $50 million deal and should have the advantage of a league full of hitters who have never faced him.

* Erik Bedard (signed as a free agent by the Pirates): Bedard, who won just one game for the Red Sox after coming in a trading-deadline deal with the Mariners and pitched a total of six innings after Sept. 3, when Sox pitching collapsed, has been named the Pirates' Opening Day starter.

* Dan Wheeler (signed as a free agent by the Indians): Lit up early in camp, Wheeler is unscored upon in his last four outings and is trying to win a spot in the Indians' bullpen.

* Conor Jackson (signed as a minor-league free agent by the Rangers): Jackson, a backup outfielder for the Sox, was released by the Rangers after going 3 for 33.

Finally, an update on Casey Kelly and Anthony Rizzo, the top prospects the Red Sox traded away last winter for slugger Adrian Gonzalez. Kelly is still in Padres' camp and has a 2.30 ERA, but will open the season with Triple-A Tucson; Rizzo, who was reunited with Theo Epstein in Chicago, hit .364 this spring but also is returning to Triple-A. Both could be in the majors before the end of the season.