Sleepers hoping dream isn't far off

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Encircled by swaying palm trees, and emanating the sounds and smells of baseball, City of Palms Park, spring home of the Red Sox, is an oasis. It, too, is an unofficial and unintended border. To the west is the Caloosahatchee River, where six-day-a-week construction gives rise to luxurious high-rise condos. To the east are neighborhoods where there are no high rises, no construction, and no one vacationing. It is a jarring juxtaposition common in many Florida cities.

It is in this direction, down Edison Avenue to where it dead ends, that you come upon the Sox' minor league complex. It's a sobering 2.6-mile drive that players make each day. The sight inside the complex, too, can be sobering. Walk into the clubhouse at about 8 any morning, and you probably will see this: row upon row of lockers, with 150 players -- the oldest being 33, the youngest 17 -- preparing to divide up onto five fields to pursue a difficult dream. The complex, geographically and figuratively, represents a dead end for many.

But within that room there are sleeper prospects whose names are well known to a proud and hopeful farm director but unrecognizable to the fan base back home in Boston. Meet two of them, both age 23.

OF Jeff Corsaletti

Sox' 19th-best prospect, according to Baseball America

Corsaletti, a sixth-round pick last June, hit .358 last year at the University of Florida, exchanged his explosive aluminum bat for wood at Single A Greenville, and hit safely in his first 15 games, well on his way to batting .357 with a .429 on-base percentage and .490 slugging percentage.

''I was seeing the ball real well," said Corsaletti. ''I think just being able to play where I did in college, in the SEC [Southeastern Conference], that prepared me for pro ball."

He credits his college coach for instilling in him the importance of on-base percentage, which the Sox value as much as anything in a young hitter.

''It was the only stat he let us look at," said Corsaletti, who rolled up a .454 career OBP with the Gators, for whom he hit leadoff. ''I pride myself in that."

It shows. Last year, hitting atop Greenville's lineup, the lefthanded-hitting Corsaletti walked 32 times and struck out only 38 times in 249 at-bats.

''He's got a good idea at the plate," said Ben Cherington, the Sox' vice president for player personnel, who said Corsaletti has gap power (not so much over-the-fence power) and runs better than average.

A center fielder, Corsaletti will play left field in Single A Wilmington this season, because Wilmington's center fielder will be 2005 top pick Jacoby Ellsbury.

''Ellsbury needs to play center," Cherington said. ''Jeff could play center down the road, but to get in the lineup, he'll be in left. His arm is a little short but enough to play the outfield."

''Whatever position they want me to play that will get me to the big leagues that's where I'll play," Corsaletti said. ''I'm not going to be picky. I'm going to be diversified so I can play wherever."

He thoroughly believes he'll get to the majors, and he believes it will be sooner rather than later. One example: Last year, his goal leaving college was ''to finish the year in Double A."

Told he doesn't lack for confidence, Corsaletti shook his head and said, ''Un-uh. Un-uh. We had our [end-of-the-year] meetings last year. Ben Cherington, I talked to him. I just told him what my goals are."

''We like it when players identify things they want to accomplish and are willing to express them," Cherington said. ''As long as they establish goals that are process-oriented, that they can control. Because ultimately they don't control what level they start at. He's a confident kid. There's that edge, he was a high school quarterback, likes to play. That's good."

3B Andrew Pinckney

Sox' 30th-best prospect, according to Baseball America

On March 19, Pinckney, who played at Division 3 Emory University in Atlanta, found himself at City of Palms Park, with a Jeff Conine smash headed down the line. The third baseman dived, uprighted himself, and got Conine by a step with what Baseball America dubbed the best infield arm in the Sox' system.

''That was really cool," said Pinckney, who in 2003 led Division 3 with 85 hits and in '04 completed a college career in which he hit .433 and slugged .726. ''I was never on TV before. My dad freaked out and taped it. That was probably the highlight of the spring."

This past Tuesday provided what likely was the lowlight. Against the Reds, Pinckney dropped an Alex Cora throw for an error, grounded into a double play, and struck out swinging.

''He got fooled on the ball coming to third, but he'll learn from that," Sox manager Terry Francona said. ''He even made a comment when he was leaving, he was like, 'Hey, thanks.' The game speeds up and maybe it's good for some of these young kids to realize that."

That doesn't change the Sox' opinion of Pinckney, a 34th-round pick in 2004 who hit .311 last year with 33 doubles, 9 triples, 21 home runs, and 98 RBIs in 128 games at Single A Greenville.

''You drive in 120 runs [actually 98], I don't care where you're playing," Francona said. ''He's an interesting kid, lefthanded bat."

Pinckney, listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 195 pounds, appears thicker and more powerful than his listed weight might suggest.

''He really worked extremely hard in the offseason to get into really good shape," Cherington said. ''The key now is to be a little more selective. He's so strong and has such a good swing that he got away with a lot at the A level. At the upper levels he has to be a little more selective early in the count."

Pinckney's progress is promising. In 2004, he hit .273 at short-season Lowell with one extra-base hit every 18.6 at-bats, and one strikeout every 3.7 at-bats. Last year, moving up to Greenville, he averaged an extra-base hit every 8.1 at-bats and whiffed once every 6.5 at-bats.

Pinckney credits his improvement to two years working with hitting coach Randy Phillips, who worked at Lowell in '04, then Greenville in '05.

''I was lucky," said Pinckney, who will begin this year at Wilmington (the higher of the Sox' two Single A affiliates). ''It really helped having him there two years in a row telling me the same stuff. We just focused on swinging down on the ball and getting backspin. I used to have a dip in my swing.

''I would like to have a similar year as last year. I think I'm fully capable of doing that."

A shortstop in high school and third baseman in college, the Sox in '04 pondered moving Pinckney to catcher, because of his throwing ability and body. But, he's since been told he'll remain at third.

''He has plenty of arm for third base," Cherington said, when asked about Baseball America's high opinion of Pinckney's defense. ''It's not Adrian Beltre's.

''He's a really driven kid. He's a low draft pick from a small school out to prove the world wrong. We don't want to stand in his way."