Red Sox manager Terry Francona confirmed to reporters this morning that outfielder Brad Wilkerson has left the Red Sox. He doesn’t figure to be in the major league team’s plans heading into the regular season.

Wilkerson, who had signed a minor-league deal, had an opt-out option in his deal that permitted him to leave the team up until April 1. Wilkerson was hitting just .119 in 42 at-bats, striking out 18 times. The competition for the spot to fill the back-up first baseman/fifth outfielder role — one that Mark Kotsay figures to be in line for upon returning from back surgery sometime in May — now figures to be coming down to Chris Carter and Jeff Bailey. The left-handed hitting Carter is hitting .350, while Bailey, a right-handed hitter, has totaled a .357 batting average. Both are considered no better than average defenders. Carter has options left, while Bailey is on a minor-league deal, so neither would be forced to clear waivers.
 
If he did make the team, Wilkerson would have received $275,000 for reaching each of the following roster thresholds: 60, 90, 120, and 150 days on the active major league roster. He would have also received an additional $200,000 for reaching 300, 350, 400, 450, and 500 plate appearances. The entirety of the package could have reached as much as $2.5 million.

Asked to define the difference in Clay Buchholz this spring as opposed to last, Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills cited two elements: more “giddy-up” on his fastball, and a vastly improved mound presence. Last year, team officials were disconcerted by the constant pick-off throws to first made by Buchholz (a pitcher whose quick time to the plate already allows him to hold runners well), a sign of his confusion while on the hill.

This spring, Buchholz — who starts today against the Pirates — has been more asertive on the mound. Not only has he been more locked in on what he’s doing on the mound, but his mound strategy has progressed to the point where he is shaking off catcher Jason Varitek unless and until he sees the right fingers calling for the pitch that he wants to throw.

Yet one sign that Buchholz has been waiting for with some frequency is the two-seam fastball. It is a pitch that Buchholz says he used in the past, but with little conviction or effect.Not so this spring. Buchholz has been attacking both left-handers and right-handers with the pitch, and he’s been using it to both sides of the plate. The result has been a healthy diet of ground balls thus far this spring.

“I’ve been probably throwing it 90 percent of the time this year, just spotting up and making it move back on the outside corner of the plate to a right-hander or front-door to a left-hander. It’s been a good pitch for me. If I can have that pitch and throw that whenever I want, I think I’ll be a lot better off than I was last year,” Buchholz said a couple days ago. “(Before), I said I threw a two-seamer, but I don’t even know if it did anything. That’s a pitch that everybody throws. Now I can actually see why it’s different than a four-seam fastball. You could see the lesser amount of seams on the ball when I threw it, but now it’s like, when I let it go, I can feel it and see it on the outcome.”

Though Buchholz is now embracing the potential of his sinking two-seamer, he has not leaned on close friend Justin Masterson for advice with the pitch. That is because Masterson’s video-game sinker is in a class of its own.

“His two-seamer is ridiculous,” said Buchholz. “Mine moves six inches. His moves 60 inches. It’s ridiculous how much his ball moves like that.”

Nonetheless, even a few inches of sink can be of huge benefit to the 24-year-old Buchholz. The two-seamer has made him much more pitch efficient this spring. He is on a 65-pitch limit in today’s game, and Mills noted before the contest that there was no reason, based on how the pitcher has performed thus far this spring, that he can’t go five innings (averaging 13 pitches per inning) with such a number.

The pay-off may not be early in the regular season, but Buchholz seems confident that it will come at the major-league level in 2009.

“I’m sort of the odd man out (of the rotation) right now. But I’m going to roll with them and hopefully come out of spring training with a spot,” said Buchholz. “Whenever I get the opportunity, I’m going to make the best of it and let the chips fall where they may.”

OTHER PRE-GAME NOTES

–Manager Terry Francona is away from the team to attend his son Nick’s graduation from U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. In his absence, Mills is stewarding the club today.

–Dustin Pedroia should be all set for two at-bats today, though obviously, if he feels any discomfort in his lower abdomen, the Sox will abbreviate his day. The injury is only a concern when Pedroia swings, and not when he is in the field.

–Mills praised the defense of Brad Wilkerson, who has been splitting time between first base and the outfield. Wilkerson is competing for the “Mark Kotsay” role of the backup at those positions, and has shown impressive aptitude at first base, where he made a nice play on a tough hop in the hole on Thursday and also snared an errant throw from third base and made a nice sweep tag of the batter to record an out.

“I think he’s shown pretty good instincts (at first),” said Mills, who was Wilkerson’s bench coach with the Expos in 2003. “It’s not foreign to him.”

Wilkerson will play center field in tomorrow’s exhibition game, and if he can demonstrate an ability to play all three outfield positions and first base, it would give him a clear advantage in the effort to make the major-league roster.

–Kevin Youkilis, who is wearing a protective boot for his sprained left ankle and Achilles tendinitis, is “still a little sensitive to the touch,” according to Mills. That sensitivity must subside before he can resume full baseball activities.

–John Smoltz remains scheduled to throw a bullpen session, his first of the spring, on March 25. Brad Penny is still on target to start a major-league spring raining game on Monday.

As discussed yesterday, there is currently a spirited open competition between Jeff Bailey, Chris Carter, Paul McAnulty and Brad Wilkerson for the role of the Red Sox’ fifth outfielder, a job that is vacant through at least the end of April as outfielder Mark Kotsay recovers from back surgery.

One additional item worth mentioning: both Bailey and Wilkerson have opt-out clauses should the Red Sox not purchase their contracts by specified dates. That being the case, here is a revised list of the contract status of all four players:

• Bailey can opt out of his contract and become a free agent if he has not been called up by July 15.
• Carter is a member of the 40-man roster, and so will remain under Red Sox control whether or not he is in the majors or in Triple-A.
• McAnulty does not have an out clause.
• Wilkerson has two outs: one on April 1, another on June 15.

Most of the position players checked in by yesterday afternoon, and this morning will be devoted to physicals for them. The lucky players then get to head to the field to demonstrate their fitness on arrival at camp, undergoing a series of conditioning tests that will leave more than a couple gasping for air — though it is worth noting that most members of the Sox have reported to Fort Myers this year in apparently excellent physical condition.

As we await said activities, here are five takeaway items from Monday:

1) David Ortiz had plenty to say, whether about his own motivation to prove wrong any doubters from his injury-marred 2008 season, his belief that the lineup has been weakened by the absence of Manny Ramirez and the lack of a replacement slugger this offseason and where MLB stands with regards to the steroids crisis. One interesting revelation about Ortiz: manager Terry Francona said that it was apparent last year that it “wasn’t the vintage Ortiz,” acknowledging that the slugger had to cheat to get fastballs with his bat speed reduced by his wrist injury.

2) Julio Lugo and Jed Lowrie are both girding their loins for a competition to be the starting Red Sox shortstop in 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

Outfielder Brad Wilkerson is in uniform, wearing No. 32, and working out with the other Red Sox position players at the team’s minor league training facility after officially signing a minor league deal could pay him as much as $2.5 million for one season. The 37-year-old figures serve in the role the Red Sox originally had earmarked for Mark Kotsay before Kotsay was forced to undergo back surgery, keeping him out until at least May.

Also making an appearance for the optional workout was outfielder Jason Bay. J.D. Drew, who revealed yesterday he still is dealing with lingering back soreness, was not among the participants on the field.

Red Sox first baseman/outfielder Mark Kotsay underwent surgery on January 29 for a displaced disc fragment in his back in response to back pain. (Kotsay’s signing became official on January 15, after he had undergone a physical.) Few details for his recovery timetable are available as of yet, but a Red Sox official did say that Kotsay is not expected to miss much of the regular season.

All the same, his injury would seem to offer some clarification of the motivation behind the recent agreement to terms with first baseman / outfielder Brad Wilkerson (reported at WEEI.com yesterday). Kotsay has a history of back problems, and required surgery on a herniated disk in 2007. He has been on the disabled list four times with back problems: in 2003 with San Diego, when he missed two weeks due to spasms; the first two months of the 2007 season following the aforementioned surgery; again in the final month and a half of the 2007 season with the A’s; and for much of last June with the Braves.

More on the agreement to terms (pending a physical) between the Red Sox and Brad Wilkerson: it is a minor-league agreement, with Wilkerson making the major-league minimum if called up to the majors. He would, however, receive performance and roster bonuses that could increase the value of the deal to as much as $2.5 million. Wilkerson would get $275,000 for each of the following roster thresholds: 60, 90, 120 and 150 days on the active major-league roster. He could also receive $200,000 bonuses for reaching each of the following numbers of major-league plate appearances: 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500.

Wilkerson would serve as a kind of insurance for first baseman/outfielder Mark Kotsay (who has identical plate appearance bonuses to Wilkerson), though without the ability to serve as a backup centerfielder. Though left-handed, his career numbers are slightly better against left-handers (.262/.359/.446) than they are against right-handers (.243/.347/.439).