The Red Sox have signed 31-year old righty swinging outfielder Darnell McDonald to a minor league deal. He played in 47 games for the Reds last season and he was 28 for 105 (.267 avg, .706 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 2 homers and 10 RBIs. McDonald has now played in 68 games in his major league career and he is 34 for 147 (.231 avg, .609 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 2 homers, 11 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Unless the Red Sox suffer an injury in spring training McDonald will likely start the year in AAA but be the first player called up if the Red Sox have a need in the outfield.

The Red Sox have signed 32-year old righty reliever Jorge Sosa to a minor league deal. He pitched in 18 games (0 starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 2-1 with 2 saves, a 6.45 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP. Sosa has now pitched in 272 games (88 starts) in his major league career and he is 42-50 with 7 saves, a 4.72 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. This signing makes sense as Sosa has a great throwing arm he just needs to learn how to pitch and the Red Sox’ coaching staff could get the best out of him.

The Red Sox have signed 28-year old righty reliever Fernando Cabrera and 30-year old righty swinging shortstop Gil Velazquez to minor league deals. Cabrera pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox last season and he was 0-0 with a 8.44 ERA and a 2.06 WHIP. He has now pitched in 131 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 8-7 with 1 save, a 5.12 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He has also whiffed 193 batters in only 174 innings in his major league career showing that he has good enough stuff to succeed when he is throwing strikes. Velazquez played in 6 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 0 for 2 (.000 avg). He has now played in 9 games in his career with the Red Sox and he is 1 for 10 (.100 avg, .282 OPS) with 1 RBI. It’s doubtful that the Red Sox will need Velazquez in 2010 so I see him playing almost the whole season in AAA again.

31-year old switch-hitting Victor Martinez will be a full-time catcher this season and that’s not a good thing for the defense of the Red Sox but his hitting will still make him a huge overall asset to the team. He played in 155 games for the Indians & Red Sox last season and he was 178 for 588 (.303 avg, .861 OPS) with 88 runs scored, 23 homers and 108 RBIs. There is no reason to think that V-Mart won’t put up at least the same kind of numbers in 2010 as he did last season seeing how he will be with the Red Sox the whole season long. Martinez made 4 errors and he had 4 passed balls in only 85 games behind the plate and that is not good. Martinez only threw out 13% of runners trying to steal on him last season and pitchers had a 5.57 ERA with him behind the plate. While the Indians’ pitchers were awful last season, Red Sox pitchers had a 5.22 ERA ERA in Martinez’ 33 games behind the plate for them. His defense could be a problem again in 2010 but his bat will more than make up for it.

37-year old switch-hitting Jason Varitek exercised a player option for the 2010 season to return to the Red Sox who really don’t want him anymore as he is on the downside of his career. Varitek played in 109 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 76 for 364 (.209 avg, .703 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 14 homers and 51 RBIs. Varitek only made 3 errors and he only had 1 passed ball in 108 games behind the plate. Red Sox’ pitchers loved to throw to Varitek as they had a 3.87 ERA with him behind the plate but he only threw out 8% of the runners trying to steal on him. Maybe his game will improve now that he will likely be getting a lot of rest playing probably 1 game every week or two.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CATCHERS IN 2010: B

The Red Sox have signed 41-year old lefty reliever Brian Shouse to a minor league deal. He pitched in 45 games (0 starts) for the Rays last season and he was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He has now pitched in 467 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 13-10 with 6 saves, a 3.72 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. This was a good signing for the Red Sox as Shouse will likely serve as the situational lefty out of the pen for them in 2010.