Tossing advice around

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- No, Jonathan Papelbon said, he hasn't downloaded any clips of Daisuke Matsuzaka pitching on his computer.

"I know how to check my e-mail," he said, "and that's it."

But Papelbon, who showed up yesterday in the rain to join the early arrivals in Red Sox camp (Josh Beckett was another notable addition), had some thoughts on how he would handle the enormous expectations that are accompanying the Japanese righthander to Boston.

"For me, if that's me, I take it as, all you people, you want to see what I'm made of, I'm going to show you the best I can what I'm made of," Papelbon said. "But at the same time, I'm not going to worry about anybody else, other than to go out there and prove I am what I am.

"I think that's all his focus needs to be, to go out and prove it, not only to Boston, that he's worth it, to the fans, to everybody. In the city of Boston -- like Trot Nixon is the perfect example -- if you go out there and bust your butt and they know you are playing your butt off day in and day out, playing through injury, you hustle -- you can tell, you just can tell -- what can you not like about that?"

Matsuzaka, who had been training the last month under the auspices of agent Scott Boras's staff in Southern California, flew into Tampa last night, greeted by what for him is the standard horde of klieg lights and flashbulbs. He briefly answered questions in Delta's baggage claim area.

Sox media relations director John Blake said Matsuzaka's plans were still to be determined for today. He may swing by the team's minor league training facility for a look and perhaps to throw a little. Presumably around to greet him will be manager Terry Francona, who came in last week, and general manager Theo Epstein, who was expected here last night.

"I have a few days left before camp officially starts," Matsuzaka said through an interpreter in Tampa. "My excitement has not reached its peak, but I would love to meet my teammates."

Papelbon, asked if the Sox had approached him about a long-term deal, said his agent, Adam Greenberg, has had a couple of conversations with Epstein, nothing more.

With just one year and 64 days of service in the big leagues, Papelbon won't be eligible for salary arbitration until after the 2008 season. Some teams, including the Red Sox, have been known to lock up their star young players in long-term deals rather than risking the huge raises that can accrue through the arbitration process.

"If I'm a year away from arbitration, and my shoulder is healthy, and I go through the season with no problems, and they don't lock me up by the All-Star break, I'll probably go to arbitration," said Papelbon. "If I come off a 15-win, 20-win season, I'm going to arbitration, because that's just lost money.

"We'll see. It's fun. It's interesting, you know?"

Papelbon's situation, of course, is complicated by the fact that his shoulder slipped out of its joint last fall, the primary reason, according to the club, that he is being converted to starter. Presumably, the Sox -- and Papelbon -- would want to structure his contract differently, depending on whether he started or relieved.

Among the players on the big-league roster working out yesterday were Abe Alvarez, Craig Breslow, Manny Delcarmen, Lenny DiNardo, Kason Gabbard, Devern Hansack, Travis Hughes, George Kottaras, Jon Lester, Edgar Martinez, David Murphy, and David Pauley . . . New right fielder J.D. Drew will wear No. 7, the same as the old right fielder, Trot Nixon. Lester's number will be 31, exactly half of his old number, 62 (Lester wore 31 in the minors). Delcarmen will wear No. 17, and Kyle Snyder No. 39. Dustin Pedroia comes to camp still wearing a football number (64), and there might be a veiled message that he has to earn his starting position, even though the plan is for him to open the season at second base.

Papelbon regaled reporters with tales of duck hunting last month with New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning in Manning's hometown of Drew, Miss. "We slaughtered those ducks," said Papelbon, who also boasted about his duck recipes, which he claims are far superior to one he found in a book that was attributed to Ted Williams ("I tried it and it was terrible, dude" he said.) "What I do," Papelbon said, "you marinate it in Coke and Italian dressing, right. What the Coke does, the carbonation takes out all the game flavor. So you marinate it in Coke and Italian dressing in a Ziploc bag. Then what you do, you slice up a breast, quarter it in fours, and then you wrap those four little nuggets in bacon, jalapeno, and sour cream, so you wrap it all in a piece of bacon, throw it on a grill. It's amazing."

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.