The Boston Red Sox will begin another exciting run in the Grapefruit League beginning in March. The first game in the 2012 Red Sox Spring Training schedule is on Sunday, March 4 when the team hosts the Minnesota Twins down in Florida. The schedule stretches through April 3 before the regular season opener on Thursday, April 5 against the Detroit Tigers.

2012 Boston Red Sox Spring Training Schedule

Sunday, March 4

Minnesota Twins (SS) at Boston, 1:35 p.m. ET

Monday, March 5

Boston at Minnesota, 7:05 p.m. ET

Tuesday, March 6

Baltimore Orioles at Boston, 1:35 p.m. ET

Wednesday, March 7

Boston at Toronto Blue Jays (SS), 1:05 p.m. ET

Thursday, March 8

Boston at St. Louis Cardinals, 1:05 p.m. ET

Friday, March 9

Pittsburgh Pirates at Boston, 7:05 p.m. ET

Saturday, March 10

Tampa Bay Rays at Boston, 7:05 p.m. ET

Sunday, March 11

Boston at Baltimore, 1:05 p.m. ET

Monday, March 12

Florida Marlins at Boston, 1:35 p.m. ET

Tuesday, March 13

Boston at New York Yankees, 7:05 p.m. ET

Thursday, March 15

St. Louis at Boston, 2:35 p.m. ET

Friday, March 16

Minnesota (SS) at Boston, 7:05 p.m. ET

Saturday, March 17

Boston (SS) at Baltimore (SS), 1:05 p.m. ET

Baltimore (SS) at Boston (SS), 1:35 p.m. ET

Sunday, March 18

Boston at Tampa Bay, 1:05 p.m. ET

Monday, March 19

Minnesota at Boston, 1:35 p.m. ET

Tuesday, March 20

Toronto Blue Jays at Boston, 7:05 p.m. ET

Wednesday, March 21

Boston at Pittsburgh, TBD

Thursday, March 22

New York Yankees at Boston, 7:05 p.m. ET

Friday, March 23

Boston at Baltimore, 1:05 p.m. ET

Saturday, March 24

Boston (SS) at Florida, 1:05 p.m. ET

Philadelphia Phillies at Boston (SS), 1:35 p.m. ET

Sunday, March 25

Boston at Toronto, 1:05 p.m. ET

Monday, March 26

Boston at Philadelphia, 1:05 p.m. ET

Tuesday, March 27

Tampa Bay at Boston, 1:35 p.m. ET

Thursday, March 29

Toronto at Boston, 1:35 p.m. ET

Friday, March 30

Boston at Minnesota (SS), 1:05 p.m. ET

Saturday, March 31

Boston at Tampa Bay, 1:05 p.m. ET

Sunday, April 1

Minnesota at Boston, 1:35 p.m. ET

Monday, April 2

Washington Nationals at Boston, 1:35 p.m. ET

Tuesday, April 3

Boston at Washington, TBD

Source:

Red_Sox_Main_Site

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According to WEEI’s Rob Bradford, the Boston Red Sox are hoping to have their coaching staff vacancies filled before the Christmas holiday. 

Currently on the Sox’s coaching staff is manager Bobby Valentine, hitting coach Dave Magadan, third base coach Tim Bogar and bullpen coach Gary Tuck. With these positions already filled, GM Ben Cherington needs to find a bench coach, first base coach and pitching coach to complete the coaching staff.

These openings came to be after bench coach DeMarlo Hale decided to leave the Red Sox to join the Baltimore Orioles organization, pitching coach Curt Young decided to return to Oakland to be the A’s pitching coach and first base coach Rob Johnson was fired by the team. 

As for their rumored replacements, Cherington was able to confirm that former Astros pitching coach Brad Arnsberg and Rays minor league pitching coach Neil Allen have been interviewed for the pitching coach position. According to Bradford, there has also been speculation that current third base coach Tim Bogar could either slide over to first base or be the team’s bench coach next season, creating another vacancy. Either way, it appears that we will have a resolution sooner rather than later on who will be on Bobby V’s coaching staff next season.

For more Boston Red Sox coverage, visit our team page and blog, Over the Monster

In 1996, then-Boston Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette (in)famously opined that pitcher Roger Clemens was “in the twilight of his career.”

Clemens, a free agent, then signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, winning consecutive Cy Young awards; was traded to the New York Yankees, where he won World Series titles, recorded his 300th victory and 4,000th strikeout; and made a comeback with the Houston Astros, leading the team to its only National League pennant. In short, after Duquette’s comment, the man known as “The Rocket” won 162 games.

Duquette continued as general manager of the Red Sox until his firing in 2002. When the team broke its 86-year-old curse in 2004, many of the players – Tim Wakefield, Pedro Martínez, Derek Lowe, Jason Varitek, Manny Ramírez and Johnny Damon among them – had been acquired under Duquette.

Now both Duquette and Clemens are in the news again.

On Saturday night, Duquette returned to Baltimore for his second interview in two days with the Orioles about their vacant general manger position, according Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Multiple media reports say Duquette is the front-runner for the job, which would be his first in Major League Baseball since leaving the Sox.

Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated tweeted Sunday morning that Duquette was meeting with Orioles owner Peter Angelos. An official announcement appeared imminent.

And Jen Royle, Baltimore radio sports reporter, tweeted: “I would be shocked if deal with #Orioles and Duquette doesn’t get done today. It’s not ‘locked up’ yet.”

Clemens, meanwhile, may be looking for work, too – in Puerto Rico. The New York Daily News reported:

According to Puerto Rico’s El Nuevo Dia newspaper, Clemens “wants to pitch” for the same Indios de Mayaguez team that his son Koby is playing for this winter.

Koby Clemens is far less certain, telling Nuevo Dia interview that he doesn’t “know how much interest (his dad) has in playing.”

The Nuevo Dia report quoted an unnamed Indios team member saying the elder Clemens “wants to pitch, that’s 100% sure. I saw his desire to compete again. He was (at) the practice and said he wanted to play with his son.”

The Daily News reported that Clemens’ attorneys, Rusty Hardin and Michael Attanasio, did not return requests for comment. That’s understandable, because Clemens has continued to make headlines in retirement that have kept his legal team busy. He is scheduled to go on trial for a second time in April for allegedly lying to Congress about using performance-enhancing drugs.

The only thing more far-fetched than Clemens making a pitching comeback at age 49? How about Duquette signing him to play for the Orioles?

By the way, Duquette, in addition to not getting enough credit for laying the foundation of the 2004 Red Sox, has been treated somewhat unfairly regarding the “twilight” quote. Here’s the entire quote, as reported by Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald on Dec.14, 1996:

“The Red Sox and our fans were fortunate to see Roger Clemens play in his prime and we had hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career. We just want to let the fans know that we worked extremely hard to sign Roger Clemens. . . . We made him a substantial, competitive offer, by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise.

“Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get together. We were hoping he could finish his career as a Red Sox and we also wanted him to establish a relationship beyond his playing career. We wanted him to have the status of a Ted Williams, but at the end of the day we couldn’t get it done.”

Boston Red Sox vice president of player personnel and pro scouting Allard Baird removed his name from the Baltimore Orioles’ general manager search Friday night.

“I was honored the Baltimore Orioles expressed interest in me as a candidate for their GM position,” Baird said, according to the Boston Globe. “The opportunity to possibly work side by side with Buck Showalter was very attractive. At the end of the day it came down to my loyalty to the Red Sox (and) Ben Cherington.”

Multiple outlets had reported the O’s interest in interviewing Baird earlier Friday.

Baird, a New Hampshire native who has been with the Red Sox since 2006, has big league GM experience, having served in that role with the Kansas City Royals from 2000 to 2006.

This is the second candidate in two days to withdraw his name from the O’s list.

On Thursday, Dodgers assistant general manager DeJon Watson removed himself from consideration, a source told ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Tony Jackson.

Former Red Sox GM Dan Duquette is still under consideration, and will be interviewed for the Orioles’ job, according to reports.

BOSTON — It’s too early in the offseason for the Boston Red Sox to start considering the status of free agents David Ortiz and Jonathan Papelbon.

Both were major contributors for the Sox this season and both will be looking for multiyear deals at big bucks. Whether they remain with the club remains to be seen, but general manager Theo Epstein said during the team’s postmortem news conference that he would like to have both back in 2012.

“I can’t say too much about that now except the general and the obvious that we’d love to have both guys back if there’s a way to do that,” Epstein said. “They’ve been huge contributors here, not only on the field but as leaders.”

Ortiz was consistent all season and finished with a .309 average, 29 homers and 96 RBIs in 146 games. The team’s designated hitter will turn 36 on Nov. 18 and he has made it no secret he wants a long-term contract with Boston. He made $12.5 million in 2011 after the club exercised its option last winter.

“I think David’s been (a leader) for a long time. He’s been the face of the franchise and instrumental figure in our clubhouse,” Epstein said.

Papelbon picked up 31 saves this season and became the first pitcher ever to record 30-plus saves in his first six full seasons in the big leagues. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, he’ll be remembered for his blown save and loss in Wednesday’s final game of the season against the Baltimore Orioles.

Papelbon said following that loss that he wouldn’t let that moment define his season or his career. When asked if he wanted to remain with the Red Sox, he said that would take care of itself during the offseason. Papelbon, who has signed a series of one-year contracts in his time with Boston, was paid $12 million this season.

Before Papelbon left Fenway Parkon Thursday afternoon he spoke with Epstein.

“I actually told Pap earlier today that he took his overall game to a new level this year, not just on the field, but he demonstrated leadership capabilities,” Epstein said. “There was a time earlier in his career where I never thought I would say that about Pap, but he really matured. He grew up a Red Sox and I was proud with the way he took that next step to lead by example. We’d love to keep both guys if we could.”

Joe McDonald covers the Red Sox for ESPNBoston.com.

Follow Joe McDonald on Twitter: @espnJoeyMac

The Boston Red Sox and New York
Yankees remain one game apart for the American League East
title after both were crushed last night by teams near the
bottom of the league’s rankings. The Red Sox fell 15-4 to the
Oakland Athletics while the Baltimore Orioles spanked the
Yankees 12-5.

Hurricane Irene, which is battering the East Coast as it
moves through the mid-Atlantic today and into New England
tonight, forced the Yankees to cancel today’s doubleheader
against the Orioles. One game will be played tomorrow in a
doubleheader at Camden Yards, while the second is scheduled for
Sept. 8.

The Boston Red Sox canceled tomorrow’s home game, and will
instead play a doubleheader today.

At Fenway Park in Boston, Scott Sizemore drilled a two-run
homer and Josh Willingham added a second in Oakland’s six-run
fourth inning as the Athletics took an 8-1 lead last night at
Fenway Park in Boston. Five Athletics blasted doubles.

Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz hit back-to-back home runs
in the bottom of the fourth for Boston (80-51).

At Camden Yards in Baltimore, A.J. Burnett (9-11) gave up
nine hits and nine runs in five innings to the Orioles, who are
at the bottom of the five-team AL East division.

Mark Reynolds, J.J. Hardy and Matt Wieters hit home runs
for the Orioles, who had a 7-0 lead by the fourth inning.

Jorge Posada put the Yankees’ first run on the board with a
home run in the fifth, followed by homers by Alex Rodriguez and
Nick Swisher in the seventh.

Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 17 games with
a single in the seventh inning.

The Yankees (78-51) trail the Red Sox by a game, with the
Orioles (52-77) 27 games off the lead. Oakland (60-71) is three
games ahead of cellar-dwelling Seattle in the four-team American
League West.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Nancy Kercheval in Washington at
nkercheval@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net