Fort Report: April 5

With Opening Day upon us, we close the book on Spring Training with this week's minor league notes:

• The Boston Globe held a live chat with Pawtucket manager Arnie Beyeler. Entering his second season managing the PawSox, Beyeler fielded questions about Ryan Lavarnway, Jose Iglesias and more. 

Justin Germano (Kelly O'Connor)

• Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports that Aaron Cook received his retention bonus, which means he will remain part of the Red Sox organization for the time being. The retention bonus must be paid to veterans signing minor league contracts in order to stay with an organization per a stipulation in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

• WEEI's Alex Speier made a case for reliever Justin Thomas to crack the Red Sox 25-man Opening Day roster. The left-handed Thomas was eventually named to the Red Sox opening day roster on Wednesday. 

• Left-hander Felix Doubront was officially named the Red Sox fourth starter earlier this week. Doubront, who is out of options, will look to build on a stellar spring training which saw him compile a 2.70 ERA in 16.2 innings pitched. 

• The major development this week was how each affiliate's roster began to take shape. SoxProspects Executive Editor Chris Hatfield broke down Greenville and Salem's rosters as well as that of the Portland Sea Dogs. Among some of the more important placements was Xander Bogaerts and Brandon Jacobs heading to Salem, Matt Barnes, Henry Owens, Garin Cecchini and Blake Swihart starting the season in Greenville and Bryce Brentz, Kolbrin Vitek and Aaron Kurcz opening 2012 action with Portland.

• Although no formal announcement was made at the time of this column on Pawtucket's opening day roster, Mike Andrews of SoxProspects.com first reported that Justin Germano will be the team's opening day starter. An official announcement on the roster is forthcoming and SoxProspects will be your source for all the details as well as a full breakdown.

Rich Hill (Kelly O'Connor)

• The Red Sox official roster announcement contained a few players on minor league contracts and that were on the roster bubble. Vicente Padilla, Scott Atchison and Thomas all were signed to minor league deals in the off-season and find themselves as members of the Red Sox bullpen. Michael Bowden, who is out of options, will also start the season as a member of the Boston bullpen.

• The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham reports that reliever Rich Hill felt great after his outing in a Double-A contest on Saturday. The left-hander is recovering from Tommy John surgery and figures to remain in Fort Myers after Spring Training to continue his rehab. 

• Cesar Cabral, selected by the Royals from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft this offseason and subsequently traded to the New York Yankees, has suffered a stress fracture in his left elbow. Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News believes that Cabral will open the season on the 60-day disabled list.

• NESN's "Road to Fenway" series continues with a check-in on outfielder Ryan Westmoreland and his road back to baseball action. 

• The "Road to Fenway" series from NESN continues on with a feature on third baseman Will Middlebrooks and why he is recognized as the Red Sox top prospect.

• We have finally made it to opening day and look forward to a successful 2012 season. Make sure to check in to SoxProspects.com and to follow us on Twitter @SoxProspects to get up-to-the minute news, read informative feature stories and catch up on daily recaps with the Cup of Coffee every morning this season.

John Gray & Karoline Zacharer are Staff Writers for SoxProspects.com. Follow John on Twitter @JohnRGray and Karoline @KarolineZ

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