Three relievers round out the roster
ARlIngton, texas — It’s not quite official yet, but the Red Sox have their team in place for opening Day.
barring something unexpected, manager Alex Cora said that righthanded relievers Isaiah Campbell, Justin Slaten, and Greg Weissert made the team. All three are new to the organization this season.
Infielder Bobby Dalbec, a forgotten man last season, also made the roster. Second base will be a platoon of Pablo Reyes and Enmanuel Valdez until Vaughn Grissom is ready to come off the injured list, which could take a month.
“Where we’re at right now, without making promises, yes,” cora said when asked about those players.
chief baseball officer Craig Breslow doesn’t believe more moves are coming, but cautioned the team has not closed the door to additions from outside the organization.
lefthander Brennan Bernardino was optioned to triple A Worcester before monday’s 9-2 victory against the texas Rangers.
bernardino had a 3.20 ERA over 55 appearances last season and averaged 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings. He has worked 6„ scoreless innings in spring training.
“It was a real tough one. You have to live with it,” cora said. “I believe bernie’s going to be a big part of our team.”
cora said the Sox have made roster flexibility a priority and that bernardino having minor league options was a factor.
Joely Rodriguez is the only lefthander in the bullpen, although the Sox are confident campbell can handle lefthanded hitters.
No negotiations for Lorenzen
the Rangers signed free agent righthander Michael Lorenzen to a one-year, $4.5 miler lion contract last week that included $2.5 million in performance bonuses.
lorenzen, 32, was 9-9 with a 4.18 ERA for the tigers and Phillies last season, throwing 153 innings and making 25 starts.
He seemingly could have been a good fit for the cost-conscious Red Sox. but talks never got off the ground.
“We spoke. but that was it,” lorenzen said. “It never got to the point where they made an offer.”
Crawford’s contract?
the Sox have not approached righthandKutter Crawford about a contract extension. but he’s open to the idea.
“If they want to talk, I’ll listen for sure,” he said.
crawford is 9-15 with a 4.74 ERA over parts of three seasons and will be part of the rotation to open the season.
Final test
Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin are scheduled to pitch tuesday in a rematch with the Rangers. that is their final hurdle to being cleared for opening Day. martin has appeared in only two exhibition games because of a groin strain and Jansen three due to a tight back and a lat strain. “they should be fine. If they post [tuesday], they’ll be oK,” cora said. the Sox are planning a bullpen game on tuesday with minor league righthander Richard Fitts starting. martin and Jansen will pitch early in the game, not in their usual late-inning slots . . . Tyler O’Neill started in right field. Prior to monday, he had played only 37 innings in the field during spring training because of a left calf strain. “I’m fine now. We were just being careful,” he said. cora doesn’t plan to play o’neill on the artificial turf tuesday unless he needs the work . . . breslow was joined in texas by assistant general managers Eddie Romero and Paul Toboni, who will be in Seattle. breslow plans to stay with the team for the entire road trip to both evaluate the roster in person and get a getter gauge of how the coaching and analytics staff prepares for games . . . the Sox released 23-year-old outfielder Gilberto Jimenez, who originally signed in 2017. Jimenez was considered one of the organization’s top prospects from 2019-22 but faded in recent years. He had a .608 oPS in two levels of class A ball last season . . . former Sox Sandy Leon (Royals) and Drew Pomeranz (Angels) were released.