Considering the situation, is it really worth it to carry Mike Carp and Lyle Overbay on the roster at all other than as minor league depth and we probably have Gomez for that? Why not use a guy like Salty and / or Nava as the back up at 1st while we rely mainly on Napoli. We can then possibly use that spot on the 25 man roster for an extra reliever maybe.

Especially if Ciriaco is the middle infield depth as he could step into the OF if absolutely necessary.

Bringing back Ortiz again messes up the option of an extra reliever in many ways. Maybe he should be a back up 1st baseman in a worse case scenario or against a NL team. But we have him so we are challenged even more for roster flexibility, which has been an issue with us for years now.

I don't see where we lose much if Salty or Nava are the back up 1st baseman. And we lose salary costs and gain roster flexibility.

In response to RedsoxProspects' comment:

1. Mike Carp, who earns the league minimum salary, would be unlikely to provide "minor league depth" because Carp is out of options.

2. Lyle Overbay, who signed a minor league contract, reportedly will earn only $1.25 million plus up to $250,000 in incentives if he makes the MLB club.

Agreed Hill, but it is possible no one picks up either for their mlb roster and even if they did warrant a pick up by another team I actually think I would rather have Gomez, last year's international league mvp if I remember correctly.

We have a pretty horrible situation at 1st base if Napoli goes down but I think Napoli will put up some decent numbers in Fenway if he does get a decent amount of PT. I see little reason to rely on Carp or Overbay at 1st though. They aren't worth the roster spot. We can fill it with other options and achieve better results.

Less of Salty the better; don't understand wanting to get this guy more at bats, he's a .220 hitter who strikes out a lot; i get it, he has power, but it's not enough.

I don't like Salty as a player either but it just shows you how little regard I have for overbay and Carp also. I mean why bother?

I'd take the roster spot and hope we can eventually get a Morneau or other player at some point if everything else is going well this year.