FORT MYERS, Fla. – Manny Delcarmen sat at his locker on Friday afternoon at the Red Sox complex and looked completely relaxed.

Ironic, since his goal is to win one of the most competitive jobs in camp this year.

Delcarmen, who was busy raising money through his bowling charity in Boston, said he didn’t pay much attention to all the changes in the bullpen this winter as names like Ramon Ramirez and Takashi Saito were added to the roster to provide depth to the back end of a bullpen that is anchored by Jonathan Papelbon.

“I try to stay away from baseball as much as I can during the offseason,” he said. “But when (the moves) came about, it’s always good to have extra pitching just because you never know what’s going to happen with this game. We’ve got Masty, Ramirez, Saito, whoever has the hot hand is going to get the opportunity. I think Tito is going to do a great job just mixing us in there and give all of us an opportunity.”

But most telling was his comment that he told Francona that he wants the job. It’s just like anyone going on a job interview, you’ve got to ask for the job many times to GET the job.

To get there, Delcarmen said he wants to be more consistent and work on a better curveball, which he said he stayed away from last year and spent the winter working on.

Meanwhile, Ramirez, acquired for Coco Crisp in the off-season, got a boost from Francona when the skipper said he figures prominently in their bullpen plans for ‘09.

Other Francona notes from Friday… Tim Wakefield was the only pitcher not to take part. .. Everyone else made it through the conditioning drills.

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