Since I did an absolutely terrible job of keeping caught up on this, I figured I would just do one big post covering all of the Red Sox acquisitions in order.
CHORYE SPOONE
Minor League Deal
Spoone has never had any Major League experience. He would appear to simply be organizational depth, I would be shocked if he ever made it to the Majors this year. His numbers at any point have not been very impressive.
JUSTIN THOMAS
Minor League Deal
Thomas last appeared in the Majors in 2010 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is also likely to serve as organizational depth in the minors, but has at least a chance of coming up to fill in with the bullpen at the Major League level if there are injuries.
WILL INMAN
Minor League Deal
Inman was once a well-regarded prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers system. The former third round draft pick was once on Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects. Inman is still just 25, so he could still make an impact, but he is running out of time. He has yet to make it to a Major League game. He was most recently in the Padres system.
TONY PENA, JR.
Minor League Deal $.625M
Pena is the son of former Red Sox catcher Tony Pena and was in the Red Sox system last year. He is converting to a pitcher after several years of being a weak-hitting middle infielder for the Royals. The experiment has been going reasonably well. I would predict he could make it to Boston sometime this year.
ANDREW MILLER
Free Agent
Once a first-round draft pick for the Tigers, Miller has struggled quite a bit in the Majors. Last year, he appeared in the Majors with the Red Sox and occasionally showed flashes of the brilliance that lead to his high draft position, but was more often than not incredibly wild. Miller has a chance to stick with Boston in the bullpen as a LOOGY, but he is running out of options and time.
JESSE CARLSON
Minor League Deal $.65M
Carlson last appeared briefly with the Blue Jays in 2010, but was once one of the crucial parts of their bullpen. Carlson was injured all of 2011. He could be a contributor at a bargain-basement price.
KELLY SHOPPACH
Free Agent $1.35M
Shoppach returns to the organization that drafted him in the second round in 2001. He appeared briefly with the Red Sox in 2005 before being traded to the Indians in the Coco Crisp deal. He has since become a valuable defensive catcher with some pop on occasion. He will be the backup catcher to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, taking over for the recently retired Jason Varitek.
NICK PUNTO
Free Agent $3.0M 2 years
Punto has been a valuable member of the Twins and Cardinals in the past seasons. A slick-fielding middle infielder with a surprisingly good batting eye, Punto will take over as the utility infielder for the Red Sox this season and could see significant time in a platoon with Mike Aviles at shortstop.
MARK MELANCON
Trade with Houston Astros
The one-time Yankees prospect did an admirable job becoming the Astros closer last season, racking up 20 saves. His position in Boston will not be quite the same. He will likely become the team's principal setup man with Daniel Bard moving to the rotation. Melancon has decent stuff but is not overpowering.
RYAN SWEENEY
Trade with Oakland Athletics
Acquired in the same trade as Andrew Bailey, Sweeney is more of a throw-in than a major part of the trade. However, he could see a lot of time as the left-handed part of a platoon in right field. Sweeney has yet to display much power, but has doubles power and is a terrific defensive outfielder.
ANDREW BAILEY
Trade with Oakland Athletics
Bailey will take over as the Red Sox's closer this season after several seasons with the A's. He is the biggest pickup of the offseason for Boston. Bailey is a three-time All Star for the A's and should stabilize the end of the game this year after Papelbon left for Philadelphia.
RICH HILL
Free Agent $.725M
Hill made big strides last year before going down with an injury. He had Tommy John surgery last year so it will be awhile before he is ready to contribute again. He could be a good low-cost pickup for the bullpen once he is healthy again.
NATE SPEARS
Minor League Deal
Spears finally made his Major League debut last year with the Red Sox after several seasons in the minors. He is still likely to be organizational depth this year as a utility infielder.
PEDRO CIRIACO
Minor League Deal
Ciriaco is still just 25, so he could still make a name for himself. He has been fairly impressive so far in Spring Training. He makes good contact and is good defensively and on the basepaths.
DOUG MATHIS
Minor League Deal
Mathis last appeared for Texas in 2010. He is likely to be organizational bullpen depth this year with the potential to show up in Boston if there are injuries.
BRANDON DUCKWORTH
Minor League Deal
Duckworth has been bouncing around for nearly 15 years at this point. He has not made a Major League appearance since 2008 when he was with the Royals. Duckworth was in the Red Sox system last season and performed reasonably well for Pawtucket.
CARLOS SILVA
Minor League Deal $1M
Silva is one of the many low-cost possibilities to fill out the back end of Boston's rotation and is probably one of the least likely to work out. Silva was once a decent pitcher for the Twins, but has struggled in the three years since, finally being released by the Cubs last season. That's a bad sign.
AARON COOK
Minor League Deal $1.5M
Cook is one of the few pitchers who has generally pitched well for the Rockies. Cook was an All Star in 2008 and started a game against the Red Sox in the 2007 World Series. He had injury problems last year that limited him, but those appear to be in the past. He could be a good low-cost back-of-the-rotation starter for Boston this year.
JUSTIN GERMANO
Minor League Deal
Germano is another example of organizational bullpen depth. He has good command, but little else.
BRAD EMAUS
Trade with Colorado Rockies
Emaus was picked up in a minor trade with the Rockies. He has 37 at bats of Major League experience to his name thus far and has not performed well. Emaus could be brought to Boston in a utility infielder role, but will likely start the season in the minors.
VICENTE PADILLA
Minor League Deal $1.5M
Padilla is the last of the minor league free agents the Red Sox have signed to compete for a rotation spot. He was a former All Star for the Phillies and had some success with the Rangers. Padilla could be slotted into the bullpen for Boston.
CLAYTON MORTENSON
Trade with Colorado Rockies
Acquired in the trade for Marco Scutaro, Mortenson has some good pitches but does not strike out nearly enough hitters. He would be a better option in the bullpen than as a starter.
CODY ROSS
Free Agent $3M
Ross is likely to be the right-handed part of the rightfield platoon with Ryan Sweeney. He will likely start the season as the starting leftfielder while Carl Crawford is on the D.L. Ross has some big power and could be a very good bat off of the bench. If Sweeney does not hit, Ross is decent enough to be plugged in every day.
MAX ST. PIERRE
Minor League Deal
St. Pierre has been in the Tigers system since 1997, only making the big league team for six games in 2010. He is likely to be the backup catcher in Pawtucket and does not have much of a chance of making it to Boston.
JOHN MAINE
Minor League Deal
Maine was once a highly-regarded prospect for the Orioles. He won 15 games for the Mets in 2007 but shoulder injuries derailed his once-promising career. He has not pitched in the Majors since 2010.
DANIEL MCGRATH
International Free Agent
McGrath was 17 when he signed as an international free agent from Australia. He is a tall, left-hander who has been clocked in the 90s. He will begin his U.S. career in 2013.
MAURO GOMEZ
Minor League Deal
Gomez is a prototypical power hitter, lots of home runs and lots of strikeouts. He is also 27 years old, so his chances of sticking in the Major Leagues are fading. He has yet to make the Majors yet, so obviously there are some concerns with his abilities.
ROSS OHLENDORF
Minor League Deal $.9M
Ohlendorf is another former Yankees prospect that was traded away. He had some success with the Pirates, winning 11 games in 2009. He missed much of 2011 with injuries. He might be on the way back.
CHRIS CARPENTER
Trade with Chicago Cubs
Carpenter is not the former Cy Young winner with the Cardinals. He was the centerpiece that the Red Sox received for allowing Theo Epstein to leave for the Cubs. Carpenter can touch 100 mph on the radar gun, but does not have much command and does not really have any other pitches. Therefore, he is most likely to be a bullpen arm, but he could be a decent one. He had some decent success in the Major Leagues last year and could be ready to contribute full time by the end of the season.
BILLY BUCKNER
Minor League Deal
Not the son of former Red Sox Bill Buckner. Buckner will be organizational depth out of the bullpen. Not much else to say.
GARRETT MOCK
Minor League Deal
Another pitcher in his late 20's brought in to act as organizational depth. See Buckner.
SCOTT ATCHISON
Minor League Deal
Atchison has been with the Red Sox since 2010 bouncing between Pawtucket and Boston. His role will likely be the same in 2012. He has had some moments of success with Boston and it is possible he could become a mainstay in the bullpen. He is in his mid 30's so he will not get any better than he is now.
JOSH KROEGER
Minor League Deal
Kroeger made it to the Major Leagues with Arizona in 2004, but has not been back since. He makes contact, but has below-average power and speed. He is also organizational depth.
JASON REPKO
Minor League Deal
Repko has bounced between the Majors and minors for several years now. He is a decent defensive outfielder who can hit lefties well, but has not performed well enough to stick around long.
AARON KURCZ
Trade with Chicago Cubs
This was just announced. Kurcz is the player to be named later in the Epstein deal. He has not made it past High A ball yet but has shown some promise with big strikeout numbers. A decent relief prospect.
