Nixon will take some healthy cuts at Foulke

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- After an exhilarating session of batting practice in which he hit four consecutive balls into the seats to end one round, and also threw effortlessly while taking fly balls in the outfield, Trot Nixon said he thought there was a good chance he could begin a rehab assignment as soon as tomorrow.

''I'm fine," Nixon said before the Red Sox were thrashed by the Angels, 13-4, last night. ''I'm going to take some batting practice [today] against Foulkie [Keith Foulke], and they're going to wait until after that to make a decision, but I'm fine."

Both general manager Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona confirmed the next step would be determined after Nixon hits against Foulke, for whom today's session also represents an important step toward his return, though Epstein acknowledged Foulke is not as far along as Nixon.

Nixon has been on the disabled list since July 27 with a strained oblique muscle.

Secondary thoughts

Epstein said he expects the club to have an announcement tomorrow on the status of second baseman Mark Bellhorn, whose rehab assignment reaches its 20-day limit at that time. Bellhorn homered for Pawtucket yesterday, but is not expected to be back with the big club, having been displaced at second base by Tony Graffanino.

''That's just speculation," Epstein said, regarding the likelihood that Bellhorn would not be back, though he acknowledged discussions with Bellhorn's agent, Mark Rodgers.

The most likely scenario, unless Graffanino or Alex Cora gets hurt before tomorrow, is that the Sox will designate Bellhorn for assignment. With clubs unlikely to trade for him because they'd have to pick up what remains on his prorated $2.75 million contract, the Sox, as a courtesy to Bellhorn, are likely to grant him his release, giving him a chance to sign with another club.

Waiver deals unlikely

Epstein said he thought it unlikely the club would make a waiver deal before the Sept. 1 deadline for setting postseason rosters. ''I don't see us making a waiver deal," he said. ''Fewer players cleared waivers than in recent memory. A lot of teams are still in it and there's a lot more claiming going on. We've got the third-best overall record, so 27 other teams would have to pass [for the Sox to make a claim]." A much more likely scenario is that first-round draft pick Craig Hansen could get a big league call-up as soon as next week. He's scheduled to pitch in back-to-back games for Double A Portland tonight and tomorrow.

Epstein was noncommittal about Hansen getting a call-up, perhaps hedging his bets in case Hansen doesn't struggles.

The Sox GM saw the 6-foot-5-inch, 185-pound Hansen pitch last week for Portland.

''It was an impressive outing," Epstein said.

Rumor squashed

Major League Baseball officials received at least a dozen phone calls yesterday regarding a rumor MLB was about to announce that Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon had tested positive for steroids, with an announcement coming today.

''Total BS," one official said. MLB and the players' union had released a joint press release last week, vehemently denying that more prominent players had tested positive in the aftermath of Rafael Palmeiro's failed test.

''People want to start something with anybody," Damon said. ''I'd be more than happy to take any test. There's no way. If I test positive for something, it's going to be because someone threw something in a drink or did something like that."

Epstein said he had not heard the rumors until after arriving at the ballpark.

''I'm not going to honor that by commenting," he said. ''You guys [reporters] probably would agree that the reporting about the steroid issue has taken on almost witch-hunt proportions in some circles, and I think it's wrong."

He's stepping up

With Jason Varitek, the usual No. 5 hitter, sitting because knuckleballer Tim Wakefield was pitching, Graffanino was inserted in the No. 5 spot in the order. Graffanino not only was batting .500 (12 for 24) over the last 10 games, he had five hits in seven career at-bats against Angels starter Bartolo Colon going into last night. Graffanino promptly singled in his first at-bat . . . Wade Miller's next throwing session has been pushed back to next week in Kansas City, Francona said . . . David Wells, who complained of persistent vomiting the last several days, said before last night's game that he was feeling a little better and was able to keep food down. Moments later, he grabbed a slice of cake in the clubhouse. Francona didn't sound too worried that Wells was ailing. Told that Wells couldn't keep anything down, Francona snorted and said, ''I don't think that's a problem." . . . It was 38 years ago yesterday that Tony Conigliaro was beaned by a pitch thrown by Angels righthander Jack Hamilton, which caused him to miss the rest of the 1967 season and all of '68 . . . While Kevin Millar's homerless streak (179 at-bats and counting) has drawn most of the attention, shortstop Edgar Renteria has gone 187 at-bats since his last home run, when he took Carlos Lee deep June 22 in Cleveland . . . Sox owners John W. Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino came to the game after attending quarterly owners' meetings in Pasadena.