PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Outfielder Henry Ramos is listed as 6-foot-2, 225 pounds in the Red Sox media guide, but he looks even bigger.

Ramos, 23, spent such a short time in Portland last year that fans might hope to see his muscular frame at Hadlock Field again this season.

“I don’t know where I’m going,” Ramos said with a shrug, before he joined Boston’s Triple-A team for an exhibition game Monday against the Tampa Bay’s Triple-A guys. “But I’m ready to go.”

Ramos does appear set for Portland – giving the Sea Dogs one of their few prospects on the early 2015 roster.

But that roster is not set, as the Red Sox spring training camp remains in flux.

Every year, the minor league rosters are determined when the major league roster is ready to go. Boston Manager John Farrell has said he will be using every single day of spring training before making final decisions.

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And with 44 players in camp – for a 25-man major league roster – it may take Farrell and his staff a while.

Once the cuts are made, some of those players will filter down to Triple-A, creating a domino effect, with players moving from Triple-A to Double-A, etc.

That is why some of today’s Triple-A players, like Ramos, will be tomorrow’s Double-A Portland Sea Dogs once the season begins.

Minor-league camp is scheduled to break Sunday. Sea Dogs players should be in Portland by next Tuesday, with the season opener two days later on April 9.

Even the coaching staffs will shift. With so many players in big-league camp, the Triple-A staff – including Manager Kevin Boles, pitching coach Bob Kipper and hitting coach Rich Gedman – has been helping out with the major leaguers.

The Sea Dogs’ staff – Manager Billy McMillon, pitching coach Kevin Walker and hitting coach Dave Joppie – is currently handling the Triple-A team.

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Catcher Michael Brenly, who spent all of last season in Portland, is with the Triple-A team. But Brenly, an eight-year pro, knows the math. Five catchers are still in major league camp.

“Spring training is a tug at your heartstrings,” Brenly said. “You get put on a roster. You get put here and there.

“But the more springs you go through, you learn to just go with the punches. There are still some cuts to be made up top, which obviously affects us. You don’t want to get too high or too down; just focus on what you can control.”

Brenly will likely come back to Portland. No. 1 prospect Blake Swihart has already been assigned to Pawtucket and as many as two more catchers – possibly Humberto Quintero and Matt Spring – could be assigned there.

Quintero is competing for the major league job, but Monday’s acquisition of catcher Sandy Leon from Washington may have sealed Quintero’s fate.

Spring has been in Portland the past three seasons. He is in his first major league camp – a sign that he may finally be assigned to Triple-A.

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RAMOS AND Keury De La Cruz are two outfielders expected to move from Triple-A camp to the Sea Dogs.

Ramos, ranked by Baseball America as Boston’s 29th-best prospect, looked to be having a breakout season last year in Portland, batting .326 with two home runs through 48 games. Coaches were hoping his power would begin to show as the weather warmed up, but Ramos suffered a stress fracture in his leg and never recovered.

“I’m healthy now,” Ramos declared after a busy offseason of working out and playing winter ball. He showed some pop Monday with a home run crushed well past the left-field fence.

De La Cruz, 23, missed the first two months of 2014 with injury, but arrived in Portland to bat .295/.761 OPS in 70 games.

Two other prospects are expected in Portland – infielder Carlos Asuaje (ranked 25th by Baseball America) and pitcher Justin Haley (28th).

Asuaje, 23, began last year in Greenville (.305/.933 OPS) and kept producing when he was promoted to advanced Class A Salem (.323/.914).

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Haley, 23, quickly established himself when he was promoted to Portland at the end of the season. In six starts, he was 3-2 with 1.19 ERA, and 33 strikeouts in 372/3 innings.

One outfielder who will be Portland-bound – but likely not for the season opener – is Manuel Margot (ranked as Boston’s No. 7 prospect). Margot, 20, is a five-tool talent from the Dominican Republic. He batted .286/804 in Greenville, before a late-season promotion to Salem (.340/.924 in 16 games).

While the Red Sox like to challenge their top prospects, they may let Margot get settled in Salem (and away from the Portland weather) during April and May.

THERE ARE 1,750 tickets available for the Sea Dogs’ opener on April 9. The annual Welcome Back Dinner will be held at 5:30 p.m. April 8 at the Portland Expo. See www.seadogs.com for more information.

Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-6411 or at:

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: ClearTheBases


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