On why the Sox went after Martinez:

We think Victor Martinez is a great fit for our club and provides a significant offensive boost, and he does it with some versatility that compliments our roster really well. He can catch and give ‘Tek a little bit of a rest behind the plate and he can play first base and get some at-bats there with Youkilis’ versatility, and he can DH a little bit. So we thought it was a good fit for our roster and provides some offensive support and some depth at the same time.

On also going after pitching:

We were involved in some talks that could have led to some pretty good starting pitchers becoming available, but it didn’t turn out that way, and I don’t think we’re going to see much impactful starting pitching move in August. We like our pitching staff, and our run prevention’s been pretty good.

We have to do a better job than we’ve been doing lately, but you’re always looking for an impact starting pitcher if you can find one, especially this time of year, but it didn’t come to pass. We have a lot of pitching and I like our run prevention generally.

On trading LaRoche:

LaRoche did a nice job while he was here. We felt all along like he was the best for us if he had close to everyday at-bats, at least every day against right-handed pitching at-bats at first base, and with the addition of Victor Martinez, now there aren’t quite as many at-bats available at first base. With LaRoche’s timing mechanism with his swing and with his approach in general, he kind of needs to play to be productive, he needs to play every day or close to it, whereas Casey Kotchman has a little different approach at the plate that might play better, a little different type role, and Kotchman also is an elite defender, and somebody you could see coming into the game late for defense on days when Victor Martinez starts at first base.

On what this all means for Kottaras:

Nothing yet, obviously once the players report we’ll have corresponding roster moves.

On Martinez’ role in Boston:

As we contemplated his acquisition and talked with Tito about possible fits we all agreed what seems to make sense is a similar role to what he had in Cleveland where he had the ability to catch but not do so every single day — [it] wears his legs down — and then spend enough time at first base and DH to stay fresh, and that works for our club because Jason Varitek is and has been and will continue to be a very important part of the club and of our pitching staff.

On Martinez getting used to the new pitching staff:

It will be a process, but I think with his makeup that that should be a smooth process. He’s very conscientious, he’s the ultimate teammate, cares about winning and really does see his job when he does catch as defense first even though he provides the big bat. So he’s going to jump right in, he’s got some shared history with John Farrell, our pitching coach now. I see it as a very smooth process. It’s never easy in the middle of the season, but I think he’s going to jump right in and be up to speed pretty quickly.

Was it a frustrating day, with things that came close but didn’t work out?

Not today. In previous days we had some things working that we were really excited about, and a couple that got really close and then didn’t happen, but that’s par for the course in trade deadline season. I think we shot big on a couple things, deals that could provide maximum impact, and we were very aggressive in use of our own prospects. Those deals got close but didn’t happen. Maybe a foundation was laid for the offseason. Who knows? But in the end, we wanted to make sure that we had a deal that we could come back [to] and make, a deal at a reasonable acquisition cost and for a player who provides impact in his own right, and we were able to do that today, so it went somewhat according to plan where we knew if we did shoot for something really big and ended up missing, we didn’t want it to affect our ability to make a useful move, and that’s how it went down.

On dealing prospects:

Time will tell. I think generally we felt great about our depth. There were some deals that we were talking about which included giving up five or six good prospects, and even those deals, had they gone down, we looked and liked what would have remained in our system. So yeah, we feel great about what remains in our system and our ability to continue a flow of young players up to the big league level and/or use them in deals, but it hurts to give up players you believe in. Any time, it hurts.

First and foremost, Justin Masterson: this is a special individual and someone that we’ve come to really admire. Since he joined the organization he’s done nothing but affect people and influence people in a really positive way—his teammates, the front office, the fans—and accomplished a lot on the field, so it’s tough to see him go. Nick Hagadone: great kid who recovered from Tommy John surgery, worked really hard to get back on the field in almost record time, and just a few weeks ago was throwing the ball incredibly well, and he’s got a big future ahead of him, so it’s hard to include him in the deal as well. Bryan Price has only been in the organization for a short period of time, but another good kid who is an outstanding arm, so I think we do have a lot of depth, and especially with our pitchers, so we hope we have that organization that can afford to move pretty good arms. I think we do, but it’s never easy to do that, especially when you have personal attachments.

On controlling Martinez through next season:

I don’t think we would have moved these players, even for an impactful player back who was a free agent at the end of the season. I think having him for all of next year and having him fit next year’s club really well was a big part of this.

Red Sox pitching prospect Nick Hagadone, the team’s top overall selection in the 2007 draft who entered this year rated the No. 3 prospect in the Red Sox system, will make his 2009 debut with the Single-A Greenville on Saturday, Sox farm director Mike Hazen confirmed. The news was first reported on SoxProspects.com.

Hagadone, who underwent Tommy John surgery last June, has been in Fort Myers thus far this year. The left-hander’s velocity, which peaked in 2008 at 98 mph, has reached as high as 96 mph in his extended spring training assignment, and both his slider and changeup have been sharp in his return.

Hazen said that Hagadone will likely throw two innings and roughly 30-35 pitches for the Drive on Saturday. His innings will be limited going forward this summer, as the Sox want to focus on keeping Hagadone healthy after a year-long rehab process that has gone as well as the Sox could have hoped.

“We just want to keep him healthy, keep him strong. He’s done really well to this point. His stuff has been really good,” said Hazen. “He crushed his rehab. He’s worked as hard as anyone I’ve ever seen…We’re really excited to see him go and pitch. I know he’s excited.”

A year ago, Lars Anderson seemed bulletproof. He put up tremendous numbers in the hitter’s haven of Single-A Lancaster, and then produced at an even higher level following a promotion to Double-A Portland.

Suddenly there was curiosity about how soon he might land in the majors. Anderson was mentioned as part of the reason why the Sox could comfortably walk away from signing Mark Teixeira this offseason.

In so many ways, those conversations were unfair. Anderson, after all, is still just 21, and had he attended Berkeley, he would be draft eligible for the first time this season. And so the notion that he would not struggle on what has been, to date, a meteoric progression through the Red Sox system seemed flawed.

Back in Double-A, Anderson is confronting his most severe professional struggle. He is hitting .229 with a .315 OBP and .697 OPS for the Sea Dogs. He has struck out 32 times, roughly once in every four plate appearances.

“He’s been getting a little bit passive at the plate, getting a little overly passive,” said Sox farm director Mike Hazen.

The Sox were hopeful that he might be on the cusp of breaking out when he hit a pair of homers – one on a changeup, one on a fastball, both described as bombs that he pulled – on Saturday. Since then, however, he is 0-for-8 (albeit with four walks) in his last three games.

“He’s going to break out of this soon. (The two-homer game) was a good indication,” said Hazen. “He’ll get it. He always has. He’s too good of a player not to. We’re getting ready, hopefully, for one of his epic runs.

“He went through a little bit of one of these periods last year at Lancaster. He was hitting about .260 at one point in May, then turned on the jets and never looked back.”

KALISH MOVIN’ ON UP

Ryan Kalish was promoted from Single-A Salem to join Anderson in Double-A Portland. Kalish, like Anderson, was a prep star who was considered to be unlikely to turn pro, barring a sizable signing bonus. The Sox drafted him in the ninth round and dropped the necessary coin to convince him to begin his professional career.

Kalish was spectacular for Single-A Lowell in ’07, hitting .368 with a .471 OBP, .540 slugging and 18 steals before a broken hamate ended his season after 23 games. In his return last year, his numbers were down significantly in both Greenville and Lancaster, but the Sox believed that was largely the result of his inability to follow a normal offseason strength and conditioning program due to the surgery on his hamate.

This year, he demonstrated as much by hitting .304 with a .434 OBP and .504 slugging mark, along with five homers in 115 at-bats with Salem (matching his homer total in 433 at-bats in 2008). That led to the conclusion that his player development track has returned from the injury detour.

“He’s doing everything that we ask a hitter to do to earn a promotion,” said Hazen. “He’s been in High-A now for almost a full year. We just felt like he needed to be challenged a little more.”

Kalish has started with a struggle in Double-A, going 1-for-17 with a pair of walks.

HAGADONE, FIFE PREPARE FOR RETURNS

Nick Hagadone has been little short of dazzling in his extended spring training appearances as he comes close to concluding his return from Tommy John surgery last June. His fastball has registered as high as 98 mph, he has shown what’s been described as a “wipeout slider,” and he’s been getting swings and misses with his changeup.

He has made three appearances in extended spring training games (of 2, 3 and 3 innings). The Sox are skipping his current turn, but then plan to have him return to make another three-inning appearance and then, perhaps, a four-inning appearance.

If all goes well in those outings, the organization’s current plan is for Hagadone to follow those outings with an assignment to Single-A Greenville in early June. In Greenville, Hagadone will be restricted, in all likelihood, to three- and four-inning outings in an effort to avoid any setbacks in what has been, so far, a very promising recovery.

“He’s not going to be probably more than a three- to four-inning pitcher this year,” said Hazen. “We’re just not going to push the envelope. It’s not worth it. Everything’s gone so well, the stuff has come back so well, and he’s not going to pitch for us in the big leagues this year. We want to get him into a competitive environment, but we need to do it on his timeframe, physically.” …

Right-hander Stephen Fife will throw two innings today (Wednesday) in extended spring training, his first appearance since the team shut him down due to shoulder soreness and weakness in spring training. Barring any setbacks, the Sox’ third-round selection in the 2008 draft (who went 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA in Lowell last year) would be ready to report to Single-A Salem in 15-20 days.

Fife’s issue was similar to the one faced by Daisuke Matsuzaka, requiring a strengthening program.

“It wasn’t necessarily an injury. It was weakness, soreness,” said Hazen. “Whenever we get that with a young pitcher, we obviously threw the brakes on and decided to push back his season…We can make those innings up on the back side if we lost them on the front side. We just want to make sure that the innings we get from him this year will be quality.”…

Josh Reddick is likely to start swinging again in roughly the next week. He has been out since straining his oblique at the end of April. At the time of his injury, he was hitting .288 with six homers and a 1.008 OPS for Double-A Portland.

The Red Sox prospect watch is back on from Fort Myers. Over the last couple of years, the significance of a robust player development system has become obvious in watching farm products play key roles in the past two playoff runs. As such, spring training provides a great opportunity to glimpse those folks who might contribute in 2009 or beyond.

–Minor-league and major-league pitchers typically separate for their throwing sessions during spring training. For what it’s worth, whereas a young pitcher such as Justin Masterson joined the group that included Tin Wakefield, Josh Beckett, Manny Delcarmen, Jon Lester and Javy Lopez, among others, Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden joined the minor-league brethren.

–Bowden said that, in his second tour at Athletes’ Performance in Pensacola, Fla., the intensity of the program was ramped up to match his needs and demands. Bowden is known as something of a gym rat — Portland pitching coach Mike Cather has said that he would often have to be kicked out of the weight room.

–Buchholz sounded a note of humility about his struggles of a year ago, when he was one of just two pitchers in the majors with an ERA of 6.75 or worse and at least 75 innings (Josh Fogg was the other). He acknowledged that he wouldn’t be handed a rotation job in spring training this year, and said that he hopes to prove his suitability to be a member of the Red Sox rotation at some point this year. Buchholz did hear the trade rumors involving his name this winter (most prominently, the Rangers’ interest in acquiring him for catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia), and revealed that he’d met Nolan Ryan — a pitcher whom he idolized growing up — on a couple occasions in the past. Ryan, of course, said cryptically at the winter meetings that Buchholz would look excellent in a Rangers uniform.

Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings from Fort Myers, where I’m joining the fray in an attempt to deny Bradford a monopoly over the blogosphere. In a shocking development, there’s very little of note on a sleepy morning at the minor-league complex. The ranks of the 40-man roster are growing, with pitchers and catchers officially due to

A Bruiser indeed

report tomorrow. Brad Penny made his appearance, crossing paths with former Marlins teammate Josh Beckett.

“There he is–the Duke,” quoth Beckett.

A dog named Bruiser is also stalking the premises.

Yup, the news is fast and furious.

Perhaps (OK, certainly) more noteworthy was the presence of Nick Hagadone, the Red Sox’ top draft choice in 2007 (sandwich round, 55th overall). Though he missed most of 2008 after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament early last year and undergoing Tommy John surgery in June, Hagadone was still ranked the third best prospect in the Red Sox system by Baseball America. That position reflects the fact that, after giving up five runs in his pro debut in the summer of 2007, the 6-foot-5 power lefty did not give up another earned run over his next 33 innings for Lowell in ’07 and Greenville last year. Before his injury, he flashed a mid-90s fastball, sharp slider and promising changeup. Read the rest of this entry »