The Red Sox have acquired 20-year old righty starter/reliever Miguel Celestino from the Mariners to complete the Casey Kotchman trade. Celestino pitched in 13 games (12 starts) in Rookie ball last season in which he was 5-3 with a 4.72 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. He has now pitched in 42 games (25 starts) in his three years in the minors and he is 14-6 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. You can never have too many talented young pitchers so I like this move for the Red Sox who had nowhere for Kotchman to play anyway.

19-year old lefty swinging outfielder Ryan Westmoreland will likely miss the entire 2010 season after undergoing brain surgery yesterday. He was the Red Sox’ #1 rated prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. Westmoreland played in 60 games in A-ball last season in which he was 66 of 223 (.296 avg, .885 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 7 homers, 35 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. The Red Sox have their fingers crossed that Westmoreland will have a full recovery.

The Dodgers have returned 23-year old lefty reliever Armando Zerpa to the Red Sox. The Red Sox essentially have made $25,000 bucks on this deal as Zerpa was selected over the winter in the Rule 5 Draft. Zerpa pitched in 38 games (0 starts) in A-ball last season in which he was 2-3 with 2 saves, a 2.65 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He has now pitched in 89 games (10 starts) in his five year minor league career in which he is 10-11 with 2 saves, a 3.12 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. You can never have enough lefty relievers so the Red Sox will welcome back Zerpa with open arms.

The Red Sox signed Nomar Garciaparra to a 1-day contract yesterday so that he could retire as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Garciaparra played 9 years for the Red Sox in which he played in 966 games. In those 966 games, Garciaparra was 1,281 of 3,968 (.323 avg, .923 OPS) with 709 runs scored, 178 homers, 690 RBIs and 84 stolen bases. Garciaparra was an All-Star 5 times for the Red Sox and he was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1997. This was a class move by the Red Sox for a very classy player.

34-year old lefty swinging J.D. Drew is a solid player but he is very injury prone. The Red Sox would be ecstatic if he could play in more than 140 games in 2010 but they know that isn’t too realistic. Drew played in 137 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 126 of 452 (.279 avg, .914 OPS) with 84 runs scored, 24 homers and 68 RBIs. Drew made 2 errors in 131 games in RF last season while showing average range. Drew had 5 assists from RF last season showing a decent throwing arm. Drew is good when he plays but the Red Sox made sure that they had a backup plan ready to go for 2010.

26-year old lefty swinging Jeremy Hermida was brought in during the winter in a trade with the Marlins. Hermida played in 129 games for the Marlins last season and he was 111 of 429 (.259 avg, .740 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 13 homers, 47 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Hermida didn’t make any errors in 81 games in RF for the Marlins last season while showing average range. He also had 3 assists last season for the Marlins as he really improved his defense in 2009. Hermida was once one of the brightest prospects in all of baseball and maybe a change of scenery will jumpstart his career.

30-year old righty swinging Bill Hall will also likely get some P.T. in RF for the Red Sox in 2010. Hall played in 15 error-free games in RF last season while showing out of this world range. He also had 2 assists in RF last season showing that he has the arm to handle the position.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR RF IN 2010: B