Chat at 1:00 pm ET

I will be doing a chat at 1:00 pm ET on ESPN.com today.  Please join in!
Link: http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/boston/chat/_/id/36283

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Boston announces 2011 minor league coaching staffs

The Red Sox have announced their 2011 minor league coaching staffs. While there are many familiar faces in the organization, some new faces have joined the ranks. Here is an entire listing of the staffs for this upcoming season. Special thanks to Adam (amfox1) for the descriptions of each coach.

Pawtucket (Triple-A, International League)

Manager: Arnie Beyeler - moves to Pawtucket after managing the last four years at Double-A Portland.
Pitching coach: Rich Sauveur - returns for his fourth consecutive year with the team
Hitting coach: TBD
Athletic trainer: Jon Jochim - returns for his second consecutive year with the team

Portland (Double-A, Eastern League)

Manager: Kevin Boles - moves to Portland after managing last season at Single-A Salem and serving in the same capacity with Single-A Greenville from 2008-09.
Pitching coach: Bob Kipper - returns for his fourth year (second consecutive) with the team
Hitting coach: Dave Joppie - returns for his fourth consecutive year with the team
Athletic trainer: Paul Buchheit - returns for his second consecutive year with the team

Salem (Single-A, Carolina League)

Manager: Bruce Crabbe - moves to Salem after managing last season at Lowell.
Pitching coach: Kevin Walker - moves to Salem after serving as Greenville’s pitching coach in 2010 and Lowell's pitching coach in 2009.
Hitting coach: Alex Ochoa - joins Salem after serving last season as Special Assistant in the Red Sox Baseball Operations department.
Athletic trainer: Brandon Henry - returns for his second consecutive year with the team

Greenville (Single-A, South Atlantic League)

Manager: Billy McMillon - returns for his fourth consecutive year with the team (second as manager)
Pitching coach: Dick Such - moves to Greenville after serving as Salem’s pitching coach from 2009-10.
Hitting coach: Luis Lopez - returns for his second consecutive year with the team
Athletic trainer: David Herrera - returns for his second consecutive year with the team

Lowell (Short-A, New York-Penn League)

Manager: Carlos Febles - makes his managerial debut with the Spinners, where he served as a coach in 2007. He was Salem’s hitting coach from 2009-10 and held the same role for Single-A Lancaster in 2008.
Pitching coach: Paul Abbott - makes his affiliated coaching debut. He spent parts of 11 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Twins (1990-92), Indians (1993), Mariners (1998-2002), Royals (2003), Devil Rays (2004) and Phillies (2004).
Hitting coach: TBA
Athletic trainer: Elizondo Mauricio - returns for his second consecutive year with the team

Gulf Coast (Rookie, Gulf Coast League)

Manager: George Lombard - makes his managerial debut in 2011 after spending the 2010 campaign as hitting coach for Lowell.
Coach: Dave Tomlin - will serve as a coach after managing the GCL Red Sox over the past five seasons.
Pitching coach: Walter Miranda - returns for his third consecutive year with the team
Hitting coach: U.L. Washington - returns for his sixth consecutive year with the team

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Boston signs flurry of pitchers to minor league deals

The Red Sox have been busy trying to find potential solutions for their bullpen, as evidenced by the signing of five pitchers to minor league deals.

Left-hander Rich Hill rejoins the organization after having a stellar first season in Boston. In 19 games with Triple-A Pawtucket in 2010, Hill was 3-1 with a 3.74 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 53.0 innings. He made a late season cameo in Boston, hurling 4.0 scoreless innings.

Andrew Miller, originally acquired earlier in the offseason from the Florida Marlins for Dustin Richardson, will also attempt to secure a spot as a left-hander in the Boston bullpen. The 25-year-old was originally drafted sixth overall by the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 amateur draft. He has struggled with control during his brief career, as evidenced by his 8.54 ERA and 26 walks in 32.2 innings pitched for the Marlins last season. Miller has compiled a 7-16 record, mostly as a starter, with a 3.96 ERA in 52 appearances in the minors.

The team also signed the intriguing Ryan Harvey, who looks to resurrect his career as a pitcher after spending his entire career as an outfielder. Originally selected sixth overall in the 2003 amateur draft by the Chicago Cubs, Harvey put up a .244/.297/.452 line with 117 home runs in 642 minor league games. He has always been regarded as an athletic outfielder with a strong arm, as shown by his 12 assists in 2010 as a right fielder for the Double-A Tulsa Drillers (COL).

Boston also signed left-hander Randy Williams who appeared in 52 games the past two seasons for the Chicago White Sox. Williams, in eleven minor league seasons, has posted a 33-20 record with a 3.94 ERA and a greater than 2:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Another member of the White Sox organization coming to Boston is Clevelan Santeliz, a 24-year-old right-hander from Venezuela. In five seasons in the White Sox organization, Santeliz was 12-26 with a 4.46 ERA in 174 games (29 starts) with spotty control.

Hill, Miller, Williams and Santeliz have all received invites to Spring Training as non-roster invitees.

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Red Sox agree to terms with Lenny DiNardo

According to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, the Red Sox have agreed to terms with pitcher Lenny DiNardo. Pending a phyical, the 31-year-old will be inked to a minor league, split contract.

After being taken by the Mets in the 2001 draft, the Red Sox selected DiNardo in the 2003 Rule 5 draft. From 2004-2006, DiNardo was 1-3 with a 5.56 ERA in 43 appearances (7 starts) in a Red Sox uniform. In 81.1 innings, the left hander allowed 108 hits and 37 walks while striking out 53 batters. DiNardo then went to Oakland, where he pitched under current Red Sox pitching coach Cut Young. DiNardo last pitched in the majors with Kansas City in 2009, while spending the 2010 season in the Athletics organization. He made 10 appearances (9 starts) with Triple-A Sacramento last season, pitching to a 2-5 record with a 3.40 ERA.

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Report: Boston signs Matt Albers

According to NESN's Peter Gammons, the Red Sox have signed right-handed reliever Matt Albers.

Albers, 27, was non-tendered by the Baltimore Orioles after posting a 4.52 ERA over 62 appearances out of the bullpen last season. Originally drafted by the Houston Astros in 2001, he was traded to Baltimore as part of the package for Miguel Tejada prior to the 2008 season. During his career, Albers has a 15-25 record with a 5.11 ERA. Despite his pedestrian strikeout and walk totals, Albers is adept at producing ground balls, placing sixth in the American League in 2010 with a 1.33:1 groundball to flyball ratio.

Albers figures to compete for a bullpen spot during Spring Training and could remain under team control for the next few seasons due to his limited service time.

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Turpen and Cabral selected in Rule 5 draft

The Red Sox have lost two pitching prospects in this years Rule 5 Draft. Left-hander Cesar Cabral was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays with the 14th selection in the first round and right-hander Daniel Turpen was selected by the New York Yankees with the fourth pick in the second round of the Major League phase of the draft.

Cabral, 21, was originally signed as an international free agent in the summer of 2005. After initially being used as a starter in 2006 through most of 2009, Cabral was used exclusively out of the bullpen in 2010. Splitting time between Low-A Greenville and High-A Salem, he posted a 4-0 record with a 3.63 ERA and 9 saves in 45 relief appearances. Cabral's has worked to improve his control, having a career best K:BB ratio this season.

Turpen, 24, was originally acquired at the trade deadline this past season from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for RHP Ramon Ramirez. In 12 games for Double-A Portland, Turpen compiled a 4.91 ERA with 3 saves while striking out nearly a batter an inning. In 10 games for Peoria during the Arizona Fall League, he posted a 5.40 ERA in 10 outings, picking up one save.

In order for Cabral and Turpen to stick with their respective teams they must now remain on the 25-man roster for the entire 2011 season or be on the active major league roster for 90 days before any disabled list trips. If they fulfill the second requirement, they would have to be active for an additional 23 games in the following season in order to have their Rule 5 status lifted.

The players can be traded, waived, or offered back to the original team at any time. Boston did not select any players during the draft.

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Rule 5 Draft: Vulnerable Sox prospects

For a look at which prospects may be selected from the Red Sox in the upcoming Rule 5 Draft, check out our latest column on ESPNBoston:

Rule 5 Draft: Vulnerable Sox prospects

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Report: Kelly, Rizzo, Fuentes traded to San Diego for Gonzalez

According to multiple sources, the Red Sox have acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez from the San Diego Padres for RHP Casey Kelly, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and outfielder Reymond Fuentes and a player to be named later. The deal is contingent upon Gonzalez passing a physical and signing a contract extension.

Gonzalez, 28, has long been coveted by the Red Sox. A slick defender with tremendous power, Gonzalez has averaged 30 home runs and 100 RBI the past four seasons. In 2010, he hit .298/.393/.511 with 31 home runs and 101 RBI at spacious Petco Park.

SoxProspects.com #1 prospect Kelly was originally drafted in the first round of the 2008 amateur draft. Originally splitting time between shortstop and the mound, Kelly dedicated himself to pitching full time in 2010 and posted a 5.31 ERA in 21 starts for Double-A Portland. The 20-year-old Kelly had dazzled on the mound in his first two seasons in the Boston system, leading him to his top prospect standing.

Rizzo, ranked #3 on SoxProspects.com, was originally drafted in the sixth round of the 2007 draft. The 21-year-old left-hander overcame cancer in 2008 to have a break out season in 2010 as a member of the High-A Salem Red Sox and the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, hitting 25 home runs and driving in 100 runs.

Fuentes, ranked #16 on SoxProspects.com, was originally selected in the first round of the 2009 draft. The 19-year-old speedster has a solid full season debut with Low-A Greenville in 2010, hitting .270/.328/.377 with 5 home runs, 41 RBI and 42 stolen bases.

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Bergmann joins Boston on minor league deal

The Red Sox today announced that they have signed RHP Jason Bergmann.

The 29-year-old Bergmann had previously spent his entire career with the Montreal/Washington organization. He made his major league debut in 2005 for the Nationals, going 2-0 with a 2.75 ERA in 15 appearances (1 start). Bergmann struggled after that, bouncing between the majors and the minors despite being a major part of the Nationals rotation in 2007-2008 and making 56 relief appearances in 2009. Last season with Triple-A Syracuse, he posted a 2.84 ERA in 43 appearances out of the bullpen, striking out greater than a batter an inning.

Bergmann figures to spend significant time at Triple-A Pawtucket and serve as bullpen depth for Boston this upcoming season.

The team also formally announced the signings of Brandon Duckworth and Drew Sutton as well as the re-signings of Nate Spears and Santo Luis.

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Red Sox sign Duckworth to minor league deal

According to Matt Eddy of Baseball America, the Red Sox have signed RHP Brandon Duckworth to a minor league deal.

Duckworth, 34, was last in the major leagues in 2008 as a member of the Kansas City Royals, going 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA in 7 starts. His most notable experience was as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies rotation from 2001-2003, compiling a 15-18 record. Traded to the Houston Astros after the 2003 season, Duckworth struggled in his short stints in the majors as well as in the minors in his two seasons with the Astros organization. The well traveled right-hander put together a bounce back season in Triple-A Indianapolis after being signed as a free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006. Last season as a member of Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the Phillies organization, Duckworth was 5-4 with a 3.32 ERA in 25 games (16 starts) striking out almost a batter an inning.

Duckworth figures to be a depth signing that will be ticketed for Pawtucket next season.

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