FORT MYERS, Fla. — Depth. It’s something every team covets. In these final days of spring training, the Red Sox find themselves too deep in some areas and suddenly lacking depth in others.

Too deep? Conventional wisdom says there’s no such thing. Yet the Red Sox find themselves playing their final spring-training games with a surplus of outfielders.

That’s why the ESPN Boston report Saturday of a possible Allen Craig trade didn’t come as a surprise. Craig is a proven hitter coming off the worst season of his career. He has gotten more at-bats than any other Red Sox hitter this spring and is clearly more comfortable at the plate than he was last season.

Moving Craig would ease the pressure on finalizing outfield roster spots, but it wouldn’t solve the dilemma facing Manager John Farrell as he ponders his starting lineup for opening day in Philadelphia. Mookie Betts has been the team’s best player this spring and has to be the starting center fielder. That means Shane Victorino and Rusney Castillo are battling for playing time in right. Victorino has given up switch hitting and will bat from the right side only, meaning Farrell may platoon two right-handed hitters.

Castillo was the star of Sunday’s 10-inning win over the Rays, scoring the winning run after making a catch-and-throw double play to end the top half of the 10th. The Sox could send Castillo to Triple-A Pawtucket to start the season but the 27-year-old Cuban looks like he belongs in the majors, not the minors.

And what about Jackie Bradley Jr.? He’s a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder who entered Monday night’s game against the Twins batting .385 this spring. Regardless, he’s almost definitely heading to Triple-A for the start of the season.

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While the Red Sox sort out the outfield, they may suddenly be in the market for a catcher. They arrived in Florida feeling good about the depth behind the plate. They had acquired Ryan Hanigan from San Diego in exchange for Will Middlebrooks, to complement Christian Vazquez, who dazzled in his first big-league experience last season.

Suddenly, Vazquez is on the 60-day disabled list and headed to see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on his throwing elbow. There is real concern he’ll miss the entire year.

With Vazquez out, the Red Sox acquired 26-year-old Sandy Leon from the Washington Nationals on Monday. He has minimal major league experience but threw out 45 percent of potential base stealers in the minors. The Sox think they have enough offense to carry a defensive-minded catcher.

Leon is an upgrade over journeyman Humberto Quintero. His presence should allow Boston to keep top prospect Blake Swihart playing regularly in the minors.

Then there’s the bullpen. Koji Uehara will likely start the season on the disabled list. His manager is now looking at options to close out games when they begin for real. Edward Mujica was the backup plan last season. Farrell, mentioning other pitchers like Junichi Tazawa, Alexi Ogando and lefty Tommy Layne, said Mujica will likely be the first choice to fill in for Uehara.

“We’re not limiting any of our options,” said Farrell. “I’m not saying this is strictly a closer by committee. We would look to close games out with (Mujica), but if there are certain situations where we feel like a better matchup is with a left-hander, I’m not opposed to doing that. We’ll look to exploit the matchups.”

In baseball – as in life – a lot can change in a month. The Red Sox came to Fort Myers thinking their roster was fairly well set. There were not many jobs up for grabs.

Now, with opening day looming, the construction of that roster might come right down to Sunday’s 3 p.m. deadline.

Tom Caron is the studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.


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