Fort Report: Minor league mini-camp

Not a whole lot to report in terms of minor league news coming out of Fort Myers this week. The official reporting day for minor league mini-camp was Wednesday, and the minor leaguers moved back to the Player Development complex on Thursday. As a side note, minor league mini-camp is generally reserved for players entering their first full season of pro ball or players who are jumping a level, similar to the Fall Instructional League. Before you ask, we don’t have a roster at this time, but it probably looks similar to the 2009 Instrux Roster. Additionally, several other minor leaguers have reported to camp early, even though the mandatory reporting date for minor league pitchers and catchers is not for another week (March 5), and despite that minor league position players are not required to report until one week later on March 12. Other than that, we don't have much to add on minor league camp, but here's the buzz from the big league side:

• There's still a lot of media attention on Jose Iglesias (pictured). Chris Gasper of Boston.com discusses Iglesias' future with the Sox and whether he will finally be the long-term answer at shortstop. NESN's Peter Gammons talks about how the young shortstop is turning heads defensively and drawing comparisons to Omar Vizquel, from none other than Vizquel himself.
  
  
• More on top prospect Casey Kelly as well. John Beattie of NESN.com reports that Kelly is feeling comfortable in big league camp and how things are easier now that he has decided to focus on pitching. Meanwhile, Boston.com's Peter Abraham reports that the young righty flashed an excellent fastball and a plus curveball facing Iglesias earlier this morning while Theo Epstein, Ben Cherington, and Mike Hazen looked on.
  
  
• Dan Barbarisi of the ProJo reports that Tim Federowicz worked out with the major league catchers on Thursday and impressed with his defensive skills.
  
  
• Abraham also notes that Lars Anderson, Ryan Kalish, and Darnell McDonald took some cuts against Daniel Bard on Thursday, but that none of the three hitters made much contact off of the flamethrower.
  
  
• Maureen Mullen of PawSox.com spoke with new Pawtucket manager Terry Lovullo about his first camp with the Red Sox. Lovullo is new to the organization, but is familiar with Terry Francona, John Farrell, and Hazen from his days in the Cleveland system. Lovullo, who played in the majors for eight years and spent the last eught seasons managing in the Indians organization, noted to Mullen that it's been an adjustment getting used to a new system.
  
  
• On Thursday the team unveiled preliminary plans for its new spring training home, which is scheduled to be ready for the 2012 season. The new complex will combine the major and minor league facilities, will include six practice fields, and will hold approximately 11,000 fans:

Jonathan Singer and John Gray of SoxProspects.com contributed to this article. Iglesias photo by Dave Letizi.

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