FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox acquired Bill Hall from the Mariners in the Casey Kotchman deal to add bench depth at just about every position on the diamond. For his part, Hall — who arrived at his new team’s minor league training facility on Sunday — has no reservations about embracing that role.

“I think I’m going to get more gloves sent in this year,” said Hall.

Hall grew up idolizing Ozzie Smith, and so shortstop became the position he embraced. He spent his entire professional life — including his most productive offensive years, including his 35 homer season with the Brewers in 2006 — at that station of the diamond. Yet now, after not playing at that position at all in 2009, he suggests that will be the position where he needs to send the most time in this spring training.

“I played every position except short and center last year,” said Hall. “I played left, right, third and second. I didn’t get to play center, but almost. I’m two years removed from center, so I can play there, too. … Shortstop is the position I haven’t played in the longest in the big leagues. I’m probably going to play most of my time there. I feel up to speed on the other positions.”

Hall said that he hasn’t played first base before, and that he has yet to hear from the Sox whether they want him to do so. Though he doesn’t have a first baseman’s mitt, Hall said that he is very much open to the possibility.

“I’m up for anything. I’ve played every position,” said Hall. “I feel I’m athletic enough to move over to first base and hopefully make it look like I’ve played there for some years.”

Of course, defensive versatility is only part of the package that Hall hopes to bring. The 30-year-old native of Tupelo, Miss. (birthplace of Elvis), has seen his average, OBP, slugging and OPS decline in each of the last three seasons.

He is coming off a campaign where he hit .201/.258/.338/.596 for the Brewers and, following a mid-year deal that represented a salary dump, the Mariners. That is a far cry from Hall’s monster 2006 campaign, when he hit .270/.345/.553/.899 with 35 homers for the Brewers.

Hall traces his offensive decline to an injury he suffered on July 5, 2007. He was playing his first season as a center fielder rather than a shortstop. On a deep fly by Ryan Doumit, Hall attempted the spectacular, trying to climb the wall to make a leaping catch. His elevation exceeded his expectations, and his timing was off on the landing, resulting in a crash on his right ankle. At the time, Hall was hitting .271/.336/.448/.784, and he had been trending upwards, hitting .325/.404/.563/.967 over the 22 games up to his injury.

When he came back, Hall suggests that his ankle was not ready. Without the support of his back foot, his mechanics came unhinged.

“In ’07 when I hurt my ankle and came back way too fast. I had to change the way I swung. It was my backside ankle and I couldn’t rotate down into the ball anymore like I could before I was injured,” said Hall. “I came in after hitting 35 homers, didn’t get off to the great start, got hurt, came back, and didn’t have the power I used to have. I was trying to create it instead of using my backside and letting it happen. I was spinning off the ball and trying to pull everything out and it turned into a lot of bad habits. I went back this offseason, changed all those, figured out what I was doing wrong, and go from there. …

“You ingrain something into your head on a swing, and it kept getting worse and worse. This offseason I went back to the drawing board, simplified my swing and started using my backside again. I haven’t hit the ball to right field like I can in almost two and a half years. Now I’m driving the ball to right and hitting the ball out to center again. When you can stay on the ball longer and guys are throwing sliders and things like that, it’s going to keep me on the ball longer and not lose the power I had.”

Hall recognizes that hitting will be the ticket to playing time. Depending on how the Red Sox roster aligns, he could represent the sole right-handed outfield bench option or the only backup capable of playing short and second.

“Everybody knows I can play some defense and everyone knows I can hit. I’ve just had some unfortunate incidents in the last couple of years and I feel like I’m pretty close back to where I used to be,” said Hall. “I don’t want to put a number on [the amount of playing time he wants]. Obviously the utility guy last year, Nick Green, obviously had a lot of at-bats and played a lot of shortstop last year. I don’t want to put a number on it. [Manager Terry Francona] just promised me plenty of at-bats and opportunities to prove I could be the player I want to be. That revolves around hitting.”

Red Sox infielder Nick Green and outfielder Joey Gathright both elected free agency after the Sox attempted to outright them to the minors last Thursday. As players with three or more years of major-league service time, the two players had the right to refuse the assignment to the minors and instead become free agents, eligible to sign with any club.

Green, who is scheduled to undergo surgery on his back today to relieve the disc and nerve issue that prevented him from playing down the stretch, hit .236 with a .303 OBP and .366 slugging mark in 103 games for the Sox this year.

The Sox acquired Gathright in a trade with the Orioles late in the year. The speedy outfielder hit .313 with a .353 OBP and .313 slugging mark in 17 plate appearances, and was on Boston’s postseason roster for the series against the Angels.

Alex Gonzalez, who was acquired by a Red Sox in a trade in mid-August, is now a free agent. AP Image.

The Red Sox have declined their $6 million option on shortstop Alex Gonzalez for 2010, a major-league source confirmed. As a result, Gonzalez is now eligible for free agency. The news was first reported by boston.com.

Despite the decision to decline the shortstop’s option and instead pay him a $500,000 buy-out, the Red Sox have expressed some interest in bringing back the 32-year-old at a lower guaranteed salary. Gonzalez hit .284 with a .316 OBP and .453 slugging mark, five homers and 15 RBIs in 44 games for the Sox after Boston acquired him in a trade with the Reds in mid-August, his second stint with the Red Sox (after he spent the 2006 season in Boston). On the year, Gonzalez’ combined numbers between the Reds and Red Sox were .238/.275/.355.

Gonzalez is one of 10 players to spend at least 25 games at shortstop for the Red Sox since 2004.

The Sox currently still have Jed Lowrie on their major-league roster, though the Sox have admitted that while they would love to see the 25-year-old assume the role of starting shortstop, his struggle to remain healthy over the last couple of years suggests that the team cannot enter next year banking on his ability to take that role. Nick Green, who is due to undergo back surgery on Monday, was outrighted to the minors on Thursday.

Jessica Camerato of WEEI.com has learned Red Sox infielder Nick Green will undergo back surgery on Monday in Boston. Green suffered a back injury in September and was not active on the 2009 playoff roster. The Red Sox outrighted him to Triple-A Pawtucket yesterday.

One would think a position player getting the chance to pitch in a major league regular season game would be a super chance to show off some hidden skills.

But that’s not the case for Nick Green, who entered Thursday’s game in the eighth inning with the Red Sox trailing the White Sox, 9-2.

“At first, I didn’t want to pitch but we didn’t really have a choice,” Green said.

The reason the Red Sox and manager Terry Francona didn’t have a choice was because Takashi Saito had a stiff neck and Francona was trying to preserve Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima for the weekend. If either or both had been used on Thursday, at least one of them would have been unavailable on Friday.

Additionally, new reliever Billy Wagner was deemed unavailable because he had thrown a side session in the bullpen earlier in the day as the Red Sox wanted to check him out before putting him into a game. Brad Penny, who was supposed to be in long relief for the Red Sox on Thursday, asked for and was given his release and he was no longer on the roster.

“If I had to go out there and pitch because our pitchers couldn’t go, that’s the only I reason I’d go out there,” Green said. ”I don’t really want to do it. But after I understood the situation today, that’s why I said, ‘Okay, I’ll try to go out there and try to have fun.’” Read the rest of this entry »

There Nick Green was. Running out of the batter’s box as he watched his fly ball sail down the right field line and curve just inside the Pesky Pole for a game-winning home run to lead the Red Sox over the Braves, 6-5, at Fenway Park.

Funny thing was, he didn’t realize that he had just won the game.

“To be honest with you, I didn’t realize what was going on,” Green said. “I didn’t even comprehend the fact that I swung at the first pitch and it was a walk-off. I just knew that we still had to hit.”

When did it hit home?

“When I hit second base and everybody is standing at home plate and then I realized what was going on,” Green said. Read the rest of this entry »

Neither Nick Green nor George Kottaras were considered candidates to even make the 25-man roster coming out of Fort Myers in early April.

But as the Red Sox stand two games ahead of the Yankees in mid-June, their presence in the bottom third of the batting order has been no small reason why the offense has suddenly picked up the pace.

In the last week, the Red Sox knocked out A.J. Burnett and Chien-Ming Wang after 2 2/3 innings. They got to Philadelphia’s Antonio Bastardo and ushered him out after just one inning. And Tuesday night, they showed Florida starter Chris Volstad the showers after 3 2/3 innings.

On Tuesday, the trio of Jacoby Ellsbury, Green and Kottaras went 6-for-12 with 3 RBIs and four runs scored as the Red Sox won the opener with the Marlins, 8-2, at Fenway Park. Read the rest of this entry »