When the Boston Red Sox signed pitcher Aaron Cook to a minor league contract last week, the number of potential Boston starters reached 11.

Now all Manager Bobby Valentine has to do is figure out which five will be the best fit.

“I think it’s really challenging,” Valentine said Friday during a chat with the media before the Portland Sea Dogs Hot Stove Dinner.

Three starters are a given: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz.

Three relievers will be given a chance to show they are starting material: Andrew Miller, Alfredo Aceves and Daniel Bard. Miller, still trying to find his control, has been a starter. Aceves has been a spot starter in the past. Bard started in college and early in his minor league career.

Two minor leaguers are possibilities: Felix Doubront and Junichi Tazawa. Doubront is out of options and will have to stick as a starter or in the bullpen.

And then there are low-risk free agents Cook and Carlos Silva, signed to minor league contracts.

Add Brandon Duckworth to that mix. He signed last year and spent all season in Pawtucket.

When all these arms show up in Fort Myers, the three known starters will be getting ready for the season, while the others will basically be trying out for a starting spot.

It is not the best scenario for evaluation.

“There are a lot of guys and one thing we don’t have is a lot of innings” in spring training, Valentine said.

“So when dealing with the 297 innings or so that we have afforded to us, you have to divide those innings up so people are ready to pitch in the season, and also people have enough innings to have a fair shot to evaluate them. That’s very challenging.”

Boston’s unsettled starting pitcher situation is similar to one faced by its rivals in the Bronx last year. New York brought in past-their-prime free agents Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon, and they combined for 20 wins.

“The Yankees took a couple of guys in spring training and rode them to the (division title),” Valentine said.

And bullpens don’t have to be absolutely set by the end of spring training either, he said.

“We saw bullpens in disarray at the beginning of last season, and one (St. Louis) went on to be a world championship team,” Valentine said.

Concerning Bard, Valentine does not appear committed to using one of Boston’s best arms as a starter, although others in the organization are pushing for Bard to leave the bullpen.

“There is a lot of thinking in the game of baseball today that a guy who throws 200 innings is worth a lot more to a team than someone who throws 60 or 70,” said Valentine, who added that he does not share that opinion.

“No, not necessarily. I believe all pitchers are very valuable. How they work together and how they contribute collectively is the important thing on a team. It’s the pitching staff that’s important to a team.”

The Red Sox could still obtain a top starter (free agent Roy Oswalt comes to mind), especially after the Yankees made big pitching news Friday.

The Yankees traded catcher Jesus Montero to Seattle for Michael Pineda, and then signed free agent Hiroki Kuroda — both deals pending the pitchers passing their physicals.

Kuroda was 13-16 with a 3.07 ERA for the Dodgers last year, while Pineda was 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA.

ANTHONY RIZZO, the touted former Sea Dogs first baseball, was instrumental in the trade with San Diego for Adrian Gonzalez last year. But he has already been traded again, to the Cubs.

It seems Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod can’t do without Rizzo. Hoyer was the Red Sox assistant general manager and McLeod was Boston’s scouting director when Rizzo was drafted in 2007.

Hoyer was San Diego’s GM and McLeod his assistant when the Padres traded for Rizzo. And now that Hoyer and McLeod are with the Cubs, guess where Rizzo ends up?

When the Red sox drafted Rizzo, “it became apparent quickly he was a pretty special kid,” McLeod said last year when the Padres played at Fenway Park.

THE SEA DOGS’ 12th annual food-for-tickets promotion is taking place through Jan. 27. For every nonperishable food item donated, fans can get two tickets for the price of one to the same game. The deal goes for box seats, reserved and general admission, and there is no limit.

The food will be donated to the Good Shepherd Food Bank.

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

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: ClearTheBases

 

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