Fort Report: March 10

Today's minor league notes:

▪ For an update on outfield prospect Ryan Westmoreland, check out this outstanding column by Joe McDonald of ESPN Boston.

▪ Infielder Ryan Dent has seen a lot of game action in the past few days at shortstop and center field. An excellent defensive player also capable of playing second base, the club is likely exploring the extent of Dent's versatility, but it's also possible that he's being groomed for a utility role in Salem or Portland.

▪ Elsewhere around the diamond, Drew Sutton and Nate Spears have seen ample playing time at first base this spring. Both players have spent most time at second base of their careers. That being said, the organization likes to stockpile as much versatility as possible in Pawtucket, and both Sutton or Spears could presumably play any infield position in a pinch.

▪ Yamaico Navarro won Wednesday's game against Baltimore with a walk-off, based loaded hit by pitch. Despite that he was hit square in the wrist and went down wincing in pain, he has been diagnosed with a left hand contusion and won't require x-rays.

▪ Outfielder Juan Carlos Linares has raised some eyebrows this spring, hitting .368/.400/.632 in 19 at-bats. He may have punched his ticket for Pawtucket to start the season. However, Linares' initial assignment could be more of a function of the players ahead of him at the Triple-A level (read: Ryan Kalish, Josh Reddick, and Daniel Nava, amongst others), as well as the team's proclivity to let him start the season playing with fellow Cubans Jose Iglesias and Jorge Padron, in order to let him continue to get accustomed to the United States in a more comfortable environment.

▪ No minor league campers saw big league action in Wednesday's or Thursday's games.

▪ Oscar Tejeda and Sutton hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the ninth inning earlier today, to put the Sox ahead 6-5 against Tampa Bay. Unfortunately, Alfredo Aceves gave up three runs in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Rays an 8-6 victory.

▪ Pitchers for tomorrow's split squad games will include Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, Hideki Okajima, Tony Pena, Alex Wilson, and Jason Rice at Minnesota, and Kyle Weiland, Dan Wheeler, Dennys Reyes, Rich Hill, Clevelan Santelitz, Michael Bowden, and Matt Albers at Houston.

▪ As expected, the club signed all fifteen pre-arbitration players on the 40-man roster to one-year deals on Tuesday. For salary information, check out this post by Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston.

▪ Tim Britton of the Providence Journal talked to first baseman Lars Anderson about his response to the Adrian Gonzalez trade. Despite that the trade blocks his path to the majors, Anderson has taken a positive attitude and is looking forward to learning from Gonzalez, who he deemed "one of the best."

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