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Lugo no fan of shortstop competition

03.08.09 at 7:48 am ET

Julio Lugo, a native of the Dominican who moved to New York in his youth, had his cell phone blow up on Saturday after the Dominican Republic endured a shocking 3-2 loss to the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. Plenty of incoming and outgoing minutes were devoted to the topic.

“Man,” said Lugo. “Everybody called me. Even David (Ortiz) called me. He couldn’t believe it. That’s hard. I’m hurting right now. … (Ortiz) couldn’t believe we lost. I didn’t think (there was baseball in the Netherlands, but I guess there is.”

Asked for his thoughts on how the heavily favored Dominican team lost, Lugo offered a simple explanation.

“I think they just took it too lightly,” he said.

Lugo will not be guilty of such a mistake this spring as he competes with Jed Lowrie for the role of everyday shortstop for the Red Sox. All the same, taking a competition seriously and enjoying it are two separate things.

The sentiment is, in many ways, understandable. Lugo signed to be the Red Sox shortstop for four years in the winter of 2006. He is, to be sure, disappointed with the way he’s played in the two seasons since then. All the same, the idea that he might be at risk of losing his job is not something he relishes. Accordingly, as he and Lowrie engage in an open competition for a starting job, there is an element of discomfort for him this spring, a fact to which he admitted in a conversation that was candid but friendly with members of the media this morning.

“I definitely don’t like (the shortstop competition),” Lugo said.”I really have no say on that. I’m a player here, and I’ve got to do whatever they ask. (But) sometimes you need an incentive. My incentive is to wear that uniform every day. I’m happy to be the starting shortstop, and that’s what I’m working for.”

And if he doesn’t win that job?

“Definitely I’m not going to be happy,” said Lugo. “I don’t think I’m at a stage of my career where I want to be a utility man or a backup. We’re going to have to see at the end of the spring how things are going to work out.

“I think (Lowrie) is a good player. I respect him. He’s a hard worker,” Lugo added. “But I just came here to be me, play when I can and swear by myself.”