Treading lightly here

Team doesn't confirm a deal on fragile Colon

Taking a relaxed approach, Mike Lowell (left) and Alex Cora hone their observational skills during yesterday's Red Sox workout. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Given the fragile nature of Bartolo Colon's shoulder and elbow, maybe it was understandable that neither the Red Sox nor his agent, Mitch Frankel, were rushing yesterday to confirm an ESPN report that the free agent pitcher had come to terms on a minor league deal. This is one case where passing a physical clearly may be more than a formality.

"We won't have an announcement tonight," Sox spokesman John Blake said in response to a Colon query, a nondenial that left open the possibility that Colon may as soon as today be strolling into camp here for what promises to be a lively reunion with his one-time pals on the Cleveland Indians, Manny Ramírez and Julian Tavarez, fellow Dominicans both.

Frankel, as of 10 last night, did not respond to phone and e-mail messages.

There were indications late last night that the Sox had offered Colon, who turns 35 May 24, a $1 million make-good contract pending a physical, a spectacular comedown from the $16 million he was paid last season by the Los Angeles Angels, where chronic arm problems long since had forced him to yield his status as staff ace. Colon won the American League Cy Young Award in 2005, then won a total of seven games in the next two seasons.

Like Curt Schilling, whose own shoulder problems are the reason the Sox were drawn to Colon as a possible add-on, Colon's mid-90s fastball is now mere memory. He has had a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder and an impingement in his elbow, opting to try rehabilitation over surgery. Like another old friend, Pedro Martínez, Colon probably could survive with his secondary pitches and by locating his sinker, if he still could throw it in the 88-90 mile per hour range. But that's a very debatable proposition at this stage.

Tomori helps out

Daisuke Matsuzaka paused for a moment, thought, let out a short sentence in Japanese, and thought some more. The Japanese media laughed. Translator Masa Hoshino let English-speaking reporters in on the big joke. "He said, 'Of the things I can repeat here . . .' " Hoshino translated.

So, though it might not all be fit for print, Denny Tomori's advice (at least some of it) has been helpful for his former teammate on the Seibu Lions. Hired by the Red Sox as a consultant for Japan, and a roving coach and evaluator, the former pitcher in the Japanese League is ubiquitous at the minor league complex, chatting with Japanese reporters, but more importantly with the team's two Japanese pitchers.

Because, while the company line has been that Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima are more comfortable in the United States this season, help is always appreciated.

"I've been able to catch a lot of meals with him, and talk a lot about baseball and just get general advice about the game," Matsuzaka said. "Just talking a lot about baseball and also just about life in general, including what I should do after my baseball career is finished."

Signed by the Red Sox in 2005, Tomori played one season in their minor league system before heading back to Japan for two more seasons. When he retired in October, the Red Sox offered him the position with the team, partially because of the respect he garnered as a more senior player in Japanese baseball, and on the Lions.

"I want to learn like how the system works here," Tomori said through fill-in translator and assistant trainer Masai Takahashi. "I want to combine the ideas from Japanese and American baseball. I want to help the organization so that they can understand the Japanese pitchers better, since we have more and more Japanese players. Not only on the Red Sox, but all over."

He said he hopes to be able to bring some of what he learns back over to Japan as a coach or manager in the future, but for now he's in Fort Myers, working to bridge any gaps that still exist between the American and Japanese baseball experience.

"Denny's a universally respected figure in Japanese baseball and he's also someone who's really familiar with the Red Sox' way of doing things because we had him in our system as a minor leaguer," general manager Theo Epstein said.

"Just that unique experience I think affords him the position to make an impact with the organization, dealing with Daisuke or Hideki or any Japanese pitcher that we might bring in.

"He's got the profile to talk to them one-on-one and make an impact, but he's also got the knowledge of our system.

"As we try to integrate both baseball cultures, he's sort of a linchpin in that equation."

Pitching in

Yesterday was the first chance for the starters to see live action. While most of the pitchers got rave reviews, pitching coach John Farrell did say Tim Wakefield "has got some work to do" on the consistency of his release. Matsuzaka got some praise on his changeup, both from Farrell and Julio Lugo. "Last year he had a tendency at times to show that pitch a little bit too much, but there's been a slight adjustment with his release to that pitch," Farrell said. "It's a much more usable pitch, and I think hitters will have to respect it. They won't be able to detect it so early upon his release." Matsuzaka threw to Ramirez, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, and Lugo yesterday as he gets ready for his first game action Friday night against the Twins. "I think near the end of the season last year, going into the playoffs and all the way through to the World Series, I was able to grasp a few points on my changeup that were really going to make a difference," Matsuzaka said. "I just hope I can apply those right away, early on in the season this year." . . . Farrell said the most encouraging part of Josh Beckett's early work has been his command in the bottom part of the strike zone. That might have been part of what impressed Dustin Pedroia so much, even though Pedroia might not be excited to face his teammate again anytime soon. "He's ready to go," Pedroia said. "Midseason form. He's locating every pitch. That was the first time I'd ever faced him, so it was quite an experience. Man, it was tough. He's got great stuff. His changeup was great, his curveball, he was locating that. He's ready to rock."

Amalie Benjamin of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.