Red Sox pitcher Junichi Tazawa was optioned to the minors on Friday. (AP)

SARASOTA, Fla. — Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said that he was not in position to comment on the arrest of reliever Bobby Jenks this morning, as he had just learned about it via a brief text message about 10 minutes before meeting with the media. (Here are some emerging details of the arrest of the pitcher.)

While the Red Sox are in the process of investigating the Jenks situation and trying to gather information, the right-hander’s arrest does not impact the formation of the team’s roster, given that he is on the 60-day disabled list and expected to be out for months. In matters that more immediately impact the team on the field, the Sox have achieved some progress in edging closer to defining their season-opening ensemble of pitchers.

The Sox made seven cuts on Friday, optioning three members of the 40-man roster (pitchers Clay Mortensen and Junichi Tazawa and catcher Luis Exposito) and reassigning four non-roster invitees to minor league camp (outfielder Alex Hassan, catcher Max St. Pierre, left-hander Jesse Carlson and right-hander Brandon Duckworth). Read the rest of this entry »

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Now we know what Bobby Valentine meant when he said Bobby Jenks had a “terrible offseason” when asked about his plans for the reliever this spring.

Standing in his locker in the Red Sox clubhouse Thursday morning, the right-handed reliever detailed his offseason back surgery that he said resulted in a life-threatening spinal condition. Jenks had surgery on Dec. 12 at Mass General in Boston after recovering from a pulmonary embolism in his lung.

“With the whole blood clot issue last year, I couldn’t have the surgery until December,” Jenks said. “All the way up until that point, I was basically doing nothing but cardio and trying to get myself as strong as possible going into the surgery. I had the surgery on the 12th of December. It didn’t go that great. I had to have an emergency surgery on the 30th to correct what happened in the prior surgery. [Doctors] went in and had that fixed and [I have] been pretty much laid up the last two months.”

The Red Sox placed Jenks on the 60-day disabled list earlier this week and he said there’s no timetable for when he might be able to pick up a baseball and start throwing again. Jenks lost significant weight in the last six harrowing months before reporting to camp this week. Jenks signed a two-year, $12 million contract before the 2011 season. He appeared in just 19 games last season, with a 2-2 record and a 6.32 ERA.

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said the team continues to support Jenks through his rehab.

“He had a difficult year and a difficult offseason. He’s frustrated by where he is physically and he is making progress. He’s made progress in even the last few weeks and we’re going to do whatever we can to help him get back to pitching and we remain hopeful he can help us this year but it was a difficult ordeal for him last season and over the offseason.”

The initial surgery was performed at MGH by Dr. Kirkham Wood, chief of the orthopedic spine service at the hospital. The follow-up procedure was performed by Dr. Christopher Yeung in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“I don’t know whose fault it was but there was an error done inside,” Jenks said. “When I went in [for consultation], we had talked about it. I had four bone spurs basically on my spine. We talked about having the top two out and the third one was started and not finished. Basically, there was a serrated edge that sliced me open in two different spots and I was leaking spinal fluid. It just pulled at the bottom of my incision and just kind of blew up on me which caused an infection to climb up that incision wound, so now I had an infection in my spine.”

[Click here to listen to Bobby Jenks detail his harrowing winter of medical problems.]

Valentine said on Monday he’s not worried right now about Jenks in the team’s pitching plans to start the season.

“Bobby said he’d like to take it one week at a time. I’d say that means he’s a long ways away from thinking about baseball activities,” Valentine said. “He’s really had a terrible offseason health-wise so he’s a real backburner guy. I don’t expect to see him in many baseball activities for a while, if at all this spring.”

Indeed, while Jenks is with the team this spring, he hasn’t even been able to pick up and throw a baseball as he recovers from his ordeal.

“I haven’t touched a baseball since last year,” he said. “Prior to December, that whole timespan, we were just trying to strength everything going into the surgery instead of breaking anything down with throwing.

“I don’t know right now. With everything going on right now, I’m just trying to stay focused on one day at a time. I can’t focus on that now because I’m going to be here until June anyway so that’s just going to kill me mentally. So, I have to stay strong and positive right now.”
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Daniel Bard could be a pivotal member of the Red Sox pitching staff in 2012. (AP)

DALLAS — The Major League Baseball winter meetings are typically the peak of insanity when it comes to the rumor mill, but the Red Sox likely will approach the hot stove with caution. Red Sox GM Ben Cherington, in a discussion with writers, said that the Sox are content to wait to see what happens in this winter’s market rather than trying to set it.

That stands in contrast to what took place a year ago. Last December, in the span of four days, the team finalized its trade with the Padres for Adrian Gonzalez and signed free agent Carl Crawford to a seven-year, $142 million deal. Whereas the Sox were the talk of baseball at last year’s winter meetings in Orlando, this year, the team may remain relatively quiet during the convention of the baseball industry in Dallas.

“Our needs are a lot different this year than they were last year,” said Cherington. “We may be less likely to go out and sort of set the market this year than we were last year. The timing of things may be different.”

It may be a while before the Sox make their key signings, and when the Sox do add players, they may not be the so-called top-tier free agents whom the team acquires. Cherington has said several times this winter that the Sox are unlikely to be aggressive in the free-agent market. Despite persistent rumors connecting the Sox to the top available pitchers (such as C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle), Cherington cast doubt on the likelihood of deals for such players.

“You never say never, but I think it’s more likely we’ll be pursuing other options,” Cherington said during his session with the Boston media at the baseball winter meetings. “We always want to stay involved to the extent we have the latest information and keep your options open because you never know what may come your way and how that may change things. I would say it’s less likely we’ll be involved in those top tier guys as relative to the past.”

Here are other notes from Cherington’s session: Read the rest of this entry »

Bobby Jenks

Bobby Jenks addressed the media on Saturday for the first time since being diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism Sept. 13. Jenks, who appeared much thinner than his listed weight of 275 pounds, said he is finally starting to feel better after a difficult few weeks.

“There’s nothing life or death right now,” Jenks said. “I’m feeling very good. In another week or two, I’m going to start exercising again, try to start getting back on a regular routine. Right now, I’m on a lot of blood thinners. We’re just trying to take care of this thing first before we move on to looking at the spine and doing the back surgery again.”

Jenks said doctors found the blood clot in his lung when they performed a CT scan as part of a preoperative procedure. Pulmonary embolisms can be deadly if not caught and treated quickly. Jenks will continue to take blood thinners and have repeat CT scans done until the clot disappears. Doctors are not sure where the clot came from, but Jenks said he thought it developed on his way to a rehab start in Salem.

“When I left Florida going into Salem to make my rehab start, the next day I felt really sick and very fatigued when I went on the field,” Jenks said. “I felt all the symptoms that went along with this. It’s not 100 percent that that’s where it came from, but most likely that’s when it happened.”

Once Jenks recovers from the embolism, he will require back surgery to remove two growths on his spine that have caused nerve damage. Jenks said he has two “little hooks” growing off his spine that did so much damage to his ligament over the years that it calcified the ligament and did nerve damage under his scapula. Dr. Kirk Wood will perform the surgery on Jenks. Since recovery should take just a few weeks, Jenks is optimistic he will be ready in time for Spring Training in February.

Jenks has not pitched since July 7 and threw just 15 2/3 innings, compiling a 6.32 ERA while going 2-2. The spate of injuries that sidelined Jenks since July (back problems, colitis, pulmonary embolism) have been trying for the reliever, who is in the first year of a two-year, $12 million deal.

“I think the fact that he knows what’s going on . . . I think he’s doing pretty well,” manager Terry Francona said. “It’s been a hard season.”

And while Jenks, who admitted that it has been difficult for him to join a new team and be unable to contribute, has experienced plenty of bad luck this season, he remains optimistic about the future.

“Obviously I was going through a lot this year mentally, a lot of struggles and just trying to stay positive for so long,” Jenks said. “I’ve just come to the point where, being a spiritual person and a Christian, I find myself very blessed. Things happen for a reason.”

“I’ve got some good luck coming my way one of these years, for the next few years hopefully.”

Felix Doubront

Conor Jackson wasn’t the only new guy in the Red Sox clubhouse Thursday afternoon. Although he’s perhaps an older face than Jackson, Felix Doubront also joined the big club as the team’s lone initial September call-up on the first day of the month.

The lefty pitcher was 3-5 with a 3.96 ERA while working mostly as a starter for Triple-A Pawtucket. He had made three appearances for the big club this season, all in April. However, his season had been defined by injuries before Thursday’s move. He had missed parts of May, July and August with groin and hamstring injuries after some believed he could have been a solid lefty specialist option for Boston in 2011.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said on Thursday that despite the bumps in the road, the team is pleased with where Doubront is as he returns to the majors.

“[His season’s] been a little bit disjointed,” he said. “He’s had a lot of interruptions. Nothing serious. He’s thrown the ball very well. We’ve given him starters innings just to accelerate his maturity as a pitcher. Now, he’ll throw out of the bullpen for us in September. He’s done it for us before. He’s a unique young guy, another one of our young guys that we’ve come to rely on.

Doubront himself added that he too feels good about the call-up, especially after making two relief appearances in the end of August in which he failed to give up a run over 3 1/3 innings.

“I’ve got my confidence back,” he said. “Last week out of the bullpen, I worked a lot to get that confidence back. Getting outs, getting lefties out, mixing my pitches, working, hitting spots, trying to use my breaking ball. Now, it’s good. I feel good.” Read the rest of this entry »

Jarrod Saltalamacchia was back in the swing of things and available Wednesday.

With all the complaining and moaning about the length of Red Sox-Yankees games, there is some irony not lost on Terry Francona.

With Tuesday’s three-hour, 59-minute marathon, the two teams have combined to play 11 games of at least 3:24, including two over four hours this season. Joe Torre, the former Yankees manager and now an MLB operations executive, oversees how well games are managed by players, managers and umpires alike.

“What’s interesting about this is, because Joe Torre is in charge of this, he had the greatest quotes of all on why these games are long,” Francona said Wednesday. “But it’s two really good teams, and there’s a lot at stake, there’s a lot of attention to detail. Every pitch seems pretty big, every base runner seems pretty big and then there’s [the fact] so many of these are nationally televised games, that’s going to slow it down, too. I think it’s just the fact that they are important to both teams and we treat it that way. I think the players feel that way and the players feel that way.”

The Red Sox manager said he isn’t about to tell Wednesday’s starting pitcher Josh Beckett to do something that will make him feel uncomfortable. Beckett was criticized by former Mets manager Bobby Valentine on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball during his start on Aug. 7 for taking as much as 45 seconds between pitches to deliver the baseball.

“That’s not going to make me lose sleep,” Francona said of Valentine’s critique.

Wednesday’s game was on ESPN nationally but the lead crew of Dan Schulman, Orel Hersheiser and Valentine were not calling the game. Francona acknowledged that major league baseball will occasionally inform teams when they believe pitchers are being too deliberate and slowing the pace of the game.

“They could,” Francona said. “From our standpoint, we always want our pitchers to work quick, just because your defense is going to be better and the game flows better. But if I have my choice of him pitching slow and winning and getting a letter from the [MLB], that’s what I’d go with rather than him hurry and get knocked around.”

On Aug. 7, Beckett labored through 101 pitches over six innings, in a 3-2 game won by the Red Sox in 10 innings. That game took four hours, 15 minutes, with no delays.

“I understand the point,” Francona said. “That just happened. It was a tough night for him He kind of slugged his way through it but he’s generally pretty good.

“I notice it on my way home. Seriously, look at my watch and go, ‘Whoa! It’s 11:30.’ Not during a game. The only game I probably ever notice when there’s a game, 11-0, one of those type games. Games are fun.”

The best sign for Jarrod Saltalamacchia on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after getting drilled in the left forearm by a 93-MPH cutter from Mariano Rivera, was his presence in the batting cage, taking hacks with no visible discomfort.

“I think we thought it was OK just because it got the meat [of the forearm],” Francona said. “When it first happened, it’s hard to tell when a guy check swings, where it hits him. From my vantage point, it looked like it hit him on the back of the hand, which is kind of scary but he just got a good old-fashioned bruise. I’m surprised that doesn’t happen more, with the way that ball cuts. That’s a pitch that kind of has a mind of its own.”

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said before the Red Sox game against the Yankees Wednesday night that J.D. Drew suffered a mild setback in his rehab outing Tuesday night, with the outfielder spraining his right, middle finger while playing for the PawSox.

“We don’t think it’s anything major but he’s not going to play tonight. So we’ll see how long that puts him back,” Epstein said. “Right now, we’re status quo. We’ll see what happens when J.D.’s ready.”

Drew went 3-for-3 in the Tuesday night game, and was potentially set to rejoin the Red Sox’ lineup Thursday.

“I don’t think it as anything major, but it’s just kind of uncomfortable swinging the bat today when he tried it,” Epstein explained. “So we said they have a day off tomorrow anyway, just come back here and we’ll check it out and see where we go from there.” Read the rest of this entry »

Terry Francona thinks things are definitely looking up for Ryan Lavarnway.

Turns out Terry Francona and the Red Sox are also taking measures to brace themselves for a wet and wild weekend at Fenway Park.

They optioned catcher Ryan Lavarnway to Triple-A Pawtucket prior to Friday’s game and called up middle-man and sometimes spot-starter Scott Atchison. The move gives the Red Sox an extra arm in the bullpen with a night game followed by a day-night doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday.

It’s the second time in 11 days the Red Sox will be playing three games in a 24-hour window. So, what does Francona think of the havoc Hurricane Irene has already caused with his weekend?

“It wasn’t my decision,” Francona said. “It’s kinda common sense, they want to play the games. I think more than just the Red Sox are doing that. I think it’s a severe enough weather thing. I know the weather is crazy here in New England but when [forecast] calls for a hurricane, probably you move it up out of common sense.”

So, the team decided to shore up their fortress by calling up Atchison, just in case.

“We talked to Lavarnway later [Thursday] night after we had a chance to talk, before we left,” Francona said. “We decided that with the three games coming up in two days, we probably better protected our pitching. So we got Atch here. He’s been lengthened out to three innings at a time and we’ve all seen what he can do.

“Just really wanted to protect our bullpen. It would be nice to have the extra position player. Saying that, Lavarnway is a catcher-DH, we have that. If you’re going to protect your lineup in a doubleheader, that’s probably not where you do it. We swapped them out and wanted to protect our pitching.”

As for Lavarnway, Francona had nothing but glowing things to say about the 24-year-old catcher, who made six starts as DH while the team was without David Ortiz and third baseman Kevin Youkilis. Francona said the team wasn’t concerned about Lavarnway sitting on the bench and not getting at-bats since it’s August and he’s had plenty of plate time already.

“That’s always a good thing,” Francona said. “He’s got about 450 at-bats in the minor leagues and he played a pretty significant amount with us so we weren’t really that concerned.”
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