When the Boston Red Sox designated Che-Hsuan Lin for assignment last week, it was so they could make room for reliever Charlie Rosario (on waivers from the Marlins).

But the move also helped thin out the ranks of outfielders trying to make it to the majors with Boston.

Boston features a lot of outfield prospects. The job at hand is to decide which players are going to fit in (re: last week’s column about those traded, including Josh Reddick, Brandon Moss and David Murphy).

The trade of Reddick emphasized the belief that Boston believes more in the long-term future of Ryan Kalish.

Now, if Kalish can get healthy.

At the end of the season, Kalish stood in front of his temporary locker at Fenway and looked exhausted.

“Everything is tired,” he said.

Quite a contrast from the 2010 season when Kalish was called up to the injury-riddled major league team and played in 53 games (after a fast start, he tailed off to a .252 average).

Back then, his gear was stored in a permanent locker.

The future looked bright. Then came the injuries. The left-hander injured his left shoulder when he crashed into a fence, playing for Pawtucket in April of 2011.

During his rehab, Kalish developed a bulging disc in his neck, which required surgery in September last year. Meanwhile, the shoulder never healed properly and he underwent surgery on it in November.

Kalish was not cleared to come back until late May, but struggled. He batted .261 in Pawtucket. He was called back to Boston for 36 games (.229), but eventually had to be shut down.

“It’s this whole area,” Kalish said, pointing to his neck and shoulder.

After his surgery, Kalish was told he may not be 100 percent for a while, “so I can’t say I wasn’t aware of it. But you don’t expect it. I’m disappointed.”

Now it’s off to the West Coast.

“I’m going to do a strength and rehab program in San Francisco,” he said. “There will be some rehab involved but (mostly) it will be normal stuff. I just got to get strong, you know.

“My strength is down. It’s been a long time since I got on a good weightlifting program. I think it’s time to reset and strive to get strong and ready.”

LIN BECAME EXPENDABLE because of the development of other outfielders. Along with Kalish and Alex Hassan, Pawtucket received Juan Carlos Linares, Bryce Brentz and Jeremy Hazelbaker from Portland this year.

Lin may be the best fielder of this bunch, but the Red Sox also have Jackie Bradley Jr. in Portland. He’s the best outfield glove in the Boston system, and he can hit.

Lin, with a .256 career average in the minors, had limited value for Boston.

BASEBALL AMERICA named the top 20 prospects of each minor league. A group of Sea Dogs, past, present and future, made the grade (Bradley made it in two leagues).

International League: 6, Ryan Lavarnway (C); 11, Jose Iglesias (SS).

Eastern League: 5, Bradley; 20, Drake Britton (P).

Carolina League: 2, Xander Bogaerts (SS); 3, Matt Barnes (P); 4, Bradley; 17, Christian Vazquez (C).

South Atlantic League: 15, Garin Cecchini (3B); 17, Blake Swihart (C).

CATCHER MATT SPRING has re-signed with the Red Sox organization, according to Baseball America, which is good news to the Sea Dogs pitching staff.

Spring, 27, batted only .197 as Portland’s backup, but he’s a gifted receiver and an experienced presence in the clubhouse.

FORMER SEA DOGS pitcher Robert Coello, 27, was removed from the Blue Jays 40-man roster and has elected free agency. He pitched mostly in Triple-A last year, but did appear in six major league games in June (nine earned runs in six innings).

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

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: ClearTheBases