FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox on Saturday optioned second baseman Oscar Tejeda and right-handed pitcher Stolmy Pimentel to Double-A Portland and reassigned 10 other players to the minor league camp.
The reassigned players are right-handers Tony Pena Jr., Jason Rice, Clevelan Santeliz, Kyle Weiland and Alex Wilson; catchers Ryan Lavarnway and Tim Federowicz; infielders Brent Dlugach, Hector Luna; and outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin.
The moves are a mere formality, as slowly the major leaguers will begin to see more time in games and the minor leaguers need to continue their progression.
"You get to a point in spring where we've been really pleased with the amount of reps everybody's gotten, but from this point forward it would start becoming a little more scarce, which is unfair to them," manager Terry Francona said.
"The first group is always the younger guys and they need to go get ready for their season. I don't think they ever know what day it is, but I think they understand that it gets to be that time. So those generally aren't tough conversations, they're actually more enjoyable because you're sending guys on their way to get ready for their season."
Among those in the group that turned heads was one of the younger members of camp, Tejeda, who goes down the road to the minor league camp after going 9-for-24 (.375) with a home run, two triples and the team lead in RBIs (eight) and total bases (16) in 13 Grapefruit League games.
"He was one of the funner stories of spring training," Francona said. "He's young. … He's got a smile that's about as infectious as you can get. He loves to play. We were really excited to get a chance to watch him. He's got a lot of work to do defensively and we told him that. There's nothing wrong with that. He's a young kid, made a position change but he's got some thunder in his bat and his body will continue to get bigger and fill out. He's a really exciting young player."
Guys with more specific roles, such as pitchers and catchers, can take plenty from their time with the big leaguers.
"Couple weeks in big league camp can really serve them well. [The pitchers] watched how [Josh] Beckett and [Jon] Lester and those guys, Lackey, did their stuff," Francona said. "Same thing with the catchers with Lavarnway and Fed. They watch how [Jason Varitek] goes about his business. Hopefully, it's a growing experience and then they move down the other side and the message is the same."
The moves leave the Red Sox with 49 players in camp, including 24 pitchers and five catchers.
