Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Red Sox announce ALDS roster

The Red Sox announced their 25-man roster for the American League Division Series, which opens late tonight in Anaheim. (The Phillies and Brewers open the division series round today at 3 p.m. on TBS, with the Dodgers and Cubs following at 6:30. The White Sox and Rays play Thursday at 2:30 p.m.)

The roster, as released by the team today:

Pitchers (10): Josh Beckett, Paul Byrd, Manny Delcarmen, Jon Lester, Javier Lopez, Justin Masterson, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, Jonathan Papelbon, Tim Wakefield.
(Mike Timlin and David Aardsma are the most glaring omissions here. Aardsma had a sub-3.00 ERA as late as Aug. 12, but he allowed 17 earned runs in eight innings starting with the 19-17 near-disaster against the Rangers. Timlin, well, every evening eventually turns to night.)

Catchers (3): Kevin Cash, David Ross, Jason Varitek.
(With Wakefield on the roster, Cash is a necessity. Ross gives the Red Sox a little more flexibility for late-game substitutions -- particularly if Varitek continues to struggle at the plate.)

Infielders (7): Sean Casey, Alex Cora, Mike Lowell, Jed Lowrie, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis.
(No real suprises here; Lowell is expected to be ready to go tonight.)

Outfielders (5): Jason Bay, Coco Crisp, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mark Kotsay.
(Ditto on Drew.)

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