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Agent: Alfredo Aceves ‘wants to start’ 12.06.11 at 1:00 pm ET
By Alex Speier

Alfredo Aceves is expected to compete for a rotation spot in spring training. (AP)

DALLAS — On a Red Sox team that featured both Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard, a case can be made that the most value member of the bullpen was Alfredo Aceves. The right-hander, signed to a bargain-rate $650,000 contract in February after the Yankees made the decision not to tender him a contract in the winter, proved a force in multiple roles.

In 55 games (4 starts) and 114 innings, Aceves was 10-2 with a 2.61 ERA. He made relief appearances of three- and four-innings at a time, pitched as a one-inning setup man for Bard and Papelbon and stepped in for occasional spot starts. He was duct tape for whatever hole the Red Sox had, becoming, in his own words, “a multi-pitcher.”

Yet at a few different points, Aceves also made clear his career preference. Ultimately, he wants to start. That has not changed, his agent, Tom O’Connell, said at the winter meetings, and so this offseason, Aceves has been engaged enthusiastically in an offseason workout program to prepare him to compete for a rotation spot in spring training.

“He’s said all along, he wants to start. They’re giving him that opportunity. You know the kind of competitor he is, so I like his chances of being in the rotation,” said O’Connell. “He’s got enough stuff. The key to being a starter is to go deep into the game and make sure you have enough stuff to keep getting them out. With his array of pitches, he can.

“I think it’s a natural progression,” added O’Connell. “I personally think some guys can do both, but for me, you have to have the pitches. Great relievers are two-pitch guys. Most great starters, they have a variety of three or four pitches they can throw for strikes in any count and any situation. Obviously, Aceves has that. I think he has the stuff to be a very successful pitcher.”

Aceves was non-tendered by the Yankees over concern about his physical condition. He missed most of 2010 with back issues, then broke his collarbone while on a bicycle in Mexico during the offseason.

But any conditioning questions that might have accompanied him to Boston faded while he was there. Aceves was viewed by teammates as one of the most committed conditioning fanatics on the team. He embraced not only that workout program but also an improved nutrition program in order to remain strong through the end of the season.

Over the final nine weeks of the season, Aceves had a 1.37 ERA in 46 innings. He pitched in each of the final four days of the season, allowing just one run in 7 1/3 innings and nearly carrying a faltering Sox bullpen to the playoffs.

Still, his wide array of pitches — fastball, curveball, cutter, changeup — works against both lefties and righties, and gives him a number of looks that would suggest the possibility of starting. At the least, it is something that the Sox appear willing to explore in spring training, and a possibility that Aceves seems to relish.

“He’s a fierce competitor and a guy who wants to win,” O’Connell said of his arbitration-eligible client. “You’re going to get his best effort every time.”

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  • http://twitter.com/CSTODD89 Craig Stoddard

    oh really? i say yes cuz hes due for a young great WR in the 1st round

  • patsfan63

    NE will not pick a safety in the first round like so many of these mock drafts think. BB remembers the mistake called Meriweather. I see BB going DL, OL,DB  with the first couple of picks. Just basing this on past drafts. I do not rule out a stud WR if one falls to them. 

  • Corky831

    awful mock

  • Bhdyer20

    All mock drafts are universally awful because nobody knows and there are always surprises.

  • Bhdyer20

    I don’t rule out anything with Belichick nobody ever pins him exactly.  How many people thought he would draft Logan Mankins, McCourty, or Solder?

  • Mike

    I see DT, DE, and or CB…I think they go free agency for the WR

  • Greene762

    Janoris Jenkins, Stephen Hill, Harrison Smith, Whitney Merculis

  • Fuego

    It gets to be pretty relative to what other teams are doing on draft day(s), as well as what is accomplished in free agency. I love seeing people spitball ideas, but its a pretty unclear picture as it sits now. 

    I will say that I hope that we add multiple WRs, an interior o-lineman, a stud d-lineman, a safety and a corner. Where they come from, its hard to say. 

  • Dfj

    I love Barron but Jeffery’s? Why not go barron and andre branch. I would love two impact defenders in this draft!

  • Relax

    I doubt the Pats are going to pick a WR just because they think they’re “due”.  Wr’s are a crap shoot.  If they use this pick for a receiver it will likely (and hopefully) be Mike Wallace.  All of the top talent will be off the board at this point.  I can’t see them going away from D-line with this pick if they have it.

  • mockman

    If Baron falls to the pats at 27 they will take him without a doubt, he is the type of player BB loves.  He is aggressive hard hitting and flies over the whole field.  Perfect fit for the pats, but I don’t think he will be on the board.  Unfortunately he will go between 15 and 22 and the pats will prbly just trade the pick.

  • Joekoool102

    We still need a pass rushing OLB who makes plays like a sack n fumble.

  • Joekoool102

    We won’t win another Super Bowl till we have a play making defense who stops people dead…especially in the fourth quarter. How bout a fourth quarter running back who moves the chains.

  • http://twitter.com/Rporter85 Robert Porter

    theres no ways the brown keep there other first round pick in that trade……………………………..

  • Anonymous

    Alshon Jeffery? Are you kidding me? I’d rather take Stephen Hill than him, at least he turned up to the Combine and actually looked interested.

    And you praise Jeffery for not looking overweight? Wow, that’s great.

  • BennyV

    I see the pats trading down from one of their two late-first round picks. there will be a team who wants a guy and trades up to get him. in return they’ll probably get a high 2nd rounder and something like a 5th for that late 1st rounder. typical pats. they’ll prob take an o-lineman, they always do, especially not knowing the future of Koppen and Connolly – just to add some depth. no one knows what BB will do, it’s just a guess.

  • Peterricci19

    new england won’t get a wide receiver. wide receivers dont always work out in the first round and i dont think this mock draft is that good anyway

  • Peterrici19

    it was obvious last year that he was gonna get a offensive tackle

  • Peterrici19

    i dont think they will get a dt but definetly a de or cb 

  • Peterricci19

    in my mock draft i have them taking merculis with the saints pick they have and janoris jenkins with there pick

  • Peterricci19

    they will probably trade the 31 pick not the 27

  • Peterricci19

    hey everyone check out my mock draft on youtube type in my nfl mock draft on youtube go to page 2 and it should be the one with a bears logo on the link my youtube name is 97redsoxfan

  • Bruinman86

     I don’t see a WR in the first round at all.  Maybe the second 2nd round pick  – if they don’t trade it off.  I think defense will be the common theme in the draft for the pats.  Unless there is a steal to be had, they are likely to focus more on Safety, CB, LB, DE and Offensive Line.  The main focus on the Defensive Line and Secondary.  I’m seriously interested in the free agent market as well.  Can’t wait to see what they will do.

  • Anonymous

    Never seen anyone suggest it, so I will.

    With all the great press RGIII is getting, what if Indy surprises everyone and takes him rather than Luck. That would blow the rest of the draft (and the predictions) out of the water.  Does Cleve/Miami/Washington keep whatever deal with the Rams for Luck?  They’d have only minutes to think about it.

  • Jcroach7

    I’d be down for Barron or smith

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