--OF Mark Kotsay signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Red Sox and will return to the ballclub as a potential backup at all three outfield spots as well first base. The 33-year-old joined Boston in a trade with Atlanta last August in exchange for minor league OF Luis Sumoza. The left-handed hitter batted .226 with 12 RBIs in 22 regular-season games with the Sox. Kotsay had gone out looking for a potential starting job on the open market this winter, but he returned to Boston went he didn't find an offer to his satisfaction.
--RHP David Aardsma and RHP David Pauley were both designated for assignment last week upon the signing of free agents OF Mark Kotsay and RHP John Smoltz, and don't be surprised if either or both are involved in trades in the near future. Pauley was a good organizational depth starter, and Aardsma was a hard-throwing revelation for the Sox in the first half of last season. Aardsma developed groin problems around the midpoint of the season, however, and wasn't the same pitcher in the second half. --OF Mickey Hall was sent to the Indians as the player to be named later in the deal that brought RHP Paul Byrd to the Red Sox last summer. Hall, who spent five years in the Red Sox organization, batted .230 with 14 homers and 37 RBIs in 94 games for high Class A Lancaster and Class AA Portland last season. Byrd was 4-2 with a 4.78 ERA in eight starts for the Sox last season and played a big part in helping the Sox make the final push into the playoffs.
--RHP John Smoltz and the Sox intimated at his introductory press conference that he was being brought to Boston as a starting pitcher, and that coming out of the bullpen wasn't in the club's immediate plans. Smoltz is the only major league pitcher with 200 wins and 150 saves in his career, but the Sox concluded that the regular schedule and the structure of starting would work best for a pitcher coming back from shoulder surgery.
"We know that it's a long season and into October we hope that pitchers take a lot of different roles," GM Theo Epstein said. "But when I close my eyes and envision it, I see him starting important games for us late in the season and hopefully into October."
--Former Sox OF Jim Rice was finally inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his 15th and final year on the writers' ballot. Rice nabbed 76.4 percent of the votes and gained entrance into the Hall by a mere eight votes.
He posted a lifetime .298 average, 382 home runs and 1,451 RBIs while playing with the Red Sox from 1974-89.
"It was a big relief," said Rice, who becomes only the fourth player to be inducted after playing his entire career with the Red Sox. "I didn't have any weight on my shoulders, per se. But when I got the call, it seemed like everything fell back. It's like, I'm not nervous. It's over with. I feel real good."
BY THE NUMBERS: 5 -- Red Sox uniform number given to OF Rocco Baldelli, a number last worn by SS Nomar Garciaparra back in 2004.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's a great feeling to know that I might also have the opportunity to maybe end my career here, too. That's one thing we've discussed. I would love to end my career playing for the Boston Red Sox. I always tell them I'm not looking to play until I'm 42, but I'm looking hopefully to end my career here (in Boston)." -- 1B Kevin Youkilis, after signing a four-year contract extension.
