Peņa eyes arbitration

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- While Daisuke Matsuzaka became the latest Red Sox pitcher yesterday to arrive here in advance of Friday's official reporting date for pitchers and catchers, outfielder Wily Mo Peña is making plans that day to be in Phoenix for an arbitration hearing.

"We're going to arbitration on Friday unless the Red Sox decide not to go," said attorney Josh Zeide, who represents Peña, the 25-year-old outfielder who could become the first Sox player to require a hearing since Theo Epstein became the club's general manager after the 2002 season.

"The ball's in their court, if they want to make Wily Mo feel part of the team. The last thing we are looking for is any kind of adversarial relationship."

The Sox have offered $1.725 million; Peña is asking for $2.2 million. What often happens is that the sides split the difference, which in this instance is $475,000. These things tend to get settled just before the deadline, but for now, the parties are not inclined to do so.

Zeide refused to discuss particulars of negotiations, and assistant general manager Jed Hoyer, who is handling things for the Sox, was attending player development meetings yesterday. Barring a sudden development, Hoyer also was planning to fly to Arizona today.

Peña batted .301 in 84 games with the Red Sox last season, hitting 11 home runs and driving in 42 runs in just 276 at-bats, his fewest at-bats in three seasons. He missed six weeks (June 1 to July 18) with a fractured hamate bone in his left wrist, and missed time later in the season because of wrist soreness and a strained quadriceps.

But he comes into this season facing the prospect of scrounging for playing time, since the Sox have signed J.D. Drew to play right field, Coco Crisp is recovered from a fractured finger, Manny Ramírez is back in left, and David Ortiz is the everyday DH.

Oddly, Drew is not yet officially on the 40-man roster; the club insists it's just a procedural matter, but a more skeptical observer might wonder whether the team is contemplating a deal in advance of camp. Usually, teams like to wait until exhibition play is under way before making a move but it's not out of the question.

Crisp's name surfaced in trade speculation this winter, but last week manager Terry Francona spoke in glowing terms of what he expects a healthy Crisp to produce this season. In the absence of a deal, a roster move likely would involve a pitcher such as David Pauley, Craig Breslow, or Kason Gabbard.

Very few players worked out at the training facility yesterday, as most Sox staff members were at City of Palms Park in player development meetings led by Epstein . . . Johnny Pesky, who is 87 and made his big league debut 65 years ago, showed up planning to work in uniform again this spring. Pesky has already been here a couple of weeks, participating in fantasy camps . . . Pesky may not have to wait long to see Julio Lugo, who becomes Boston's fourth regular shortstop since the Nomar Garciaparra trade in 2004. Lugo plans to arrive early, perhaps as soon as tomorrow. Lugo will be playing alongside Mike Lowell, who won't be playing next to Alex Gonzalez on a regular basis for the first time since 1999. That's when they began to play together with the Marlins, and both came to Boston last season. Gonzalez signed this winter with the Reds. But while Lowell said it will be an adjustment not to be playing with Gonzalez, he named a different player as the one he'll miss most: Gabe Kapler, who retired as a player at age 31 to become manager of the Sox' Single A team in Greenville, S.C.

Gordon Edes can be reached at edes@globe.com.