March 12, 2009 at 11:28 AM
March 12 Fort Report
Over at minor league camp, one piece of good news is that Austin Bailey seems to be good to go for 2009, after a shoulder injury de-railed most of his 2008 campaign ... It appears that LHP Chris George has been invited to MLST, joining Felix Rodriguez in looking for a minor league deal with the Sox ... Three players that are missing from the MLST roster are Chad Rhoades, Darren Blocker, and Yahmed Yema ... We're working on confirming their status ... Both of the Moanaroa brothers are in camp, despite earlier reports that Boss Moanaroa was not coming to the U.S. until 2010 ... To no surprise, Chih-Hsien Chiang is now listed as an outfielder on the spring training roster ... Tyler Yockey and both of the Moanaroa brothers are also both listed as outfielders, while Roberto Ramos is working with the infielders ... Chiang and Che-Hsuan Lin should be reporting to minor league camp soon ... Others Sox players returning from the WBC after first round exits are David Ortiz, Jason Bay, Steve Green, Angel Chavez, Mitch Dening, and Justin Erasmus ... Kris Johnson, Dustin Richardson, Argenis Diaz, Charlie Zink, and Carlos Maldonado are also now in minor league camp after spending the last month with the big leaguers ... We should have a lot of first-hand reports from MLST over the next few days ... Sox players advancing to the second round of the WBC this weekend are Daisuke Matsuzaka, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Enrique Gonzalez Dennis Neuman, Fernando Cabera, and Javier Lopez ... Neuman impressed again in The Netherlands' second victory over the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, pitching 1.2 perfect innings and striking out Miguel Tejada swinging ... Erasmus started for South Africa in its 14-3 loss to Mexico, looking quite poised for 19-year-old facing major league competition ... Erasmus did get roughed up a bit, going 3 innings, allowing 5 hits and 3 runs, while striking out 1 ... Over at major league camp, a bunch of likely minor leaguers continue to get extended looks ... Maureen Mullen of the Worcester Telegram brings us a report on Lars Anderson's future as the Red Sox starting first baseman ... Ian Browne reports that Clay Buchholz has connected well with veteran ace John Smoltz, who also had some struggles early in his major league career ... The ProJo reports that George Kottaras will get a chance to prove that he can catch Tim Wakefield this afternoon .... In business news, the Sox tied up all nineteen of their pre-arbitration players to one year deals, including Jon Lester ... Reports are that Lester may be locking up a long-term deal soon that could replace his one-year deal.