Report from the fort - Part 1

FORT MYERS -- As their big league brethren wrapped up their workouts Thursday, Red Sox minor leaguers took over the fields at the Fort Myers spring training complex for their first official workout. Several of the minor leaguers have been to big league camp before, while others are making their first appearances. Some have appeared in big league spring training games in past years, while others may get that memorable shot this year. How much does getting into a big league spring training game help a young player? "I don't know. We talk about that a lot. It's hard to quantify," said Mike Hazen, Red Sox director of player development. "We hope it somehow takes some of the edge off, takes some of the mystique away of walking onto a big league field for the first time, having Tim Wakefield as your starting pitcher and Jason Varitek as your starting catcher, and you're out there as a guy just out of Double-A. Hopefully, that next time he comes back to the big leagues - I don't think we can ever replicate that or that anxiety that they might feel. But can we lessen it some? We hope that through that process we can make that happen." Some of the players will be familiar to PawSox fans, while other players could be wearing PawSox uniforms for the first time this season. For Hazen, it is rewarding to see this kind of depth in the organization. "It's great," Hazen said. "And it's even more rewarding when it's your own guys. I think that's why we work so hard in the draft and develop the way we do. We can't replace that. You can't replace that year in and year out. You know what you're getting from a consistency standpoint, from the players as people, from a work ethic, from their expectations, all those things. And it's rewarding to watch those guys [develop]." As the players worked out on the sun-drenched fields, Hazen talked about a few of the players in camp and what he'd like to see from them this spring. Jeff Bailey, 1B/OF/DH Bailey, 28, a versatile first baseman/outfielder was re-signed by the Red Sox Dec. 20 after batting .275 with team highs of 22 homers and 82 RBI in 134 games for the PawSox in 2006. He was named International League Player of the Week for the week of July 2. This is Bailey's fourth year in the Red Sox organization. "Building off last season, he had a great year in Pawtucket," Hazen said. "We obviously wanted to re-sign him pretty badly because we feel like he provides that first base/outfield/DH depth, if he doesn't make the [big league] club, then at Triple-A. And he really hits left-handed pitching well. So, he's an interesting guy to have for the big league staff if, during a point in the season that is a need. And it sometimes does become a need. For us, I would expect that he's going to do similar things like he did last year in Pawtucket. But, he's just a valuable guy for us to have at the minor leagues, [as extra insurance]. Absolutely, I think Tito [Boston manager Terry Francona], the staff likes him. So he's an interesting guy." Brandon Moss, OF Moss, 23, hit .285 with 12 home runs and 83 RBI in 133 games for Double-A Portland last season. He was named the MVP of the Eastern League playoffs, helping the SeaDogs to their first league championship. He was also named the league's player of the week June 25. He played for Aguilas Cibaenas of the Dominican Winter League, batting .327 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI. "Mossy, I'm looking for him to build off last year, especially the way he finished," Hazen said. "He's obviously been one of our top prospects for a while and continues to be so. Now, we feel like he is that major league depth [player], like he's getting to that point in his career where he's getting ready to take on Triple-A and become a guy who can be called up when we have a need, an injury, or some type of situation. He'll go to Pawtucket and play every day in right field, and we're just looking to build off last year. So, what are we looking for in big league camp? I don't know really what to expect out of him. I think it being his second year [in big league camp], he'll be a little bit more comfortable in that big league environment, in big league camp. But, as far as the year goes, just looking to build off the consistency that he started to develop at the end of last year. "[In the Dominican League] we just wanted him to continue to build off his season. We wanted to elongate his season a little bit, get him some more at-bats against good competition, because it's definitely good competition. It's probably at least Triple-A competition down there. "Getting him used to a longer season, getting used to better stuff, day in and day out, which is what he's going to see as he continues to move up. And that's what we saw. We weren't really looking for results. We weren't really looking for anything in particular that he needed to work on. Just getting him some more exposure. And his willingness to go down there and do it was just awesome. He took to it and I think he had a good time." Jacoby Ellsbury, OF Ellsbury, 23, hit .308 with 4 home runs and 32 RBI in 61 games for Single-A Wilmington before a mid-season promotion to Portland, where he hit .299 with 3 home runs and 3 RBI in 50 games. In the elite Arizona Fall League, he hit .276 with 3 RBI (no home runs) in 25 games, while refining his bunting and base stealing, nabbing 7 stolen bases in 10 attempts. An AFL All-Star and Carolina League All-Star, Ellsbury was also named the Eastern League Player of the Week Aug. 13 "Jacoby is just getting his feet wet in big league camp really," Hazen said. "We've talked to him already. I think the likelihood is he'll be in Portland to start the season, work on finishing off the things we started last year in Portland, just little things. He brings a lot of things to the table that he does well naturally. He's a pretty good hitter. He's a very good defensive center fielder. The little things, of being able to use the whole field when he's hitting, bunt for a hit, really continue to work on his stolen base technique, so it's pretty good vs. left- or right-[handed pitching]. All those things we feel like it will be good exposure for him to get up there and get a taste of it in spring training, and get started on it once the season starts. "I think he can handle any challenge we put in front of him. But the way we feel, though, is why should we risk [bringing him along too quickly]? We have, from the center field standpoint, we're in pretty good shape, some good players, from Coco [Crisp] on down, David Murphy and everybody. There's no real rush to push him, that we can take the time to finish him off. He's going to progress in his own timeframe. It's not one of those situations where we've got to push him out of necessity. It's a great position to be in. And when he tells us he's ready to go, he'll go. He'll make that next jump, too." David Murphy, OF Murphy, 25, made his major league debut last season, after being called up from the PawSox, going 1-for-3 against the Blue Jays Sept. 2. In 20 games with the Red Sox, he hit .227 with 1 home run and 2 RBI. "Murph looked great Thursday when I saw him taking BP," Hazen said. "He's going to be, much like he finished up last year, he's going to be that guy in Triple-A ready to go at a moment's notice. There are some commitments above him that he's probably well aware of, but working hard not to get distracted by that, to go out and continue to perform in Pawtucket, day to day, and being ready when that opportunity comes, because that opportunity is going to come at some point. He's that good. He's going to get an opportunity somewhere to play. He's just got to be ready for it." Chad Spann, 3B/1B Spann, 23, hit .294 with 10 home runs and 50 RBI in 99 games for the SeaDogs in 2006 before an injury to his left foot cut his season short. In the Arizona Fall League, he hit .268 with 1 home run and 12 RBI in 21 games, splitting his time between third and first. An Eastern League All-Star, he was named the league's player of the week June 4. "Spannie had a good year last year," Hazen said. "He finished up really strong right before he got injured, unfortunately. Much like Mossie, we're looking for him to build on the consistency that he started to develop offensively last season. Defensively, there's still some work to be done at third base. He's been exposed a little bit to first base, and he did that in the fall league as well. But, he's getting ready to take that next step in his career as he's becoming our major league depth, and getting ready to be a guy who can be called upon when needed." By Maureen Mullen