Juggling acts in setting roster

TOKYO - Even though the Red Sox were allowed to bring 30 players (not including Curt Schilling) to Tokyo for the first two games of the season, they are allowed just 25 on the active roster, with three designated as inactive. Those 28 players all are eligible for the 25-man roster once the Red Sox head back to the States. Team sources indicated yesterday that Tim Wakefield, Sean Casey, and Mike Timlin are likely to be the inactives. Jed Lowrie and Bobby Kielty are expected to be the two extra players.

Wakefield pitched in Sunday's exhibition game, and Casey and Timlin are injured. Casey got off the plane in Tokyo with a stiff neck, and Timlin had two stitches in the ring finger of his pitching hand last Wednesday.

None of the inactive or extra players is allowed to be in uniform for either of the two games.

Two moves had to be made in advance of today's opener. The plan was for catcher Kevin Cash's contract to be purchased and pitcher Josh Beckett to be placed on the disabled list, retroactive to March 19. That means Beckett will be eligible to come off the DL April 3, the offday between series in Oakland and Toronto. Beckett pitched two innings against Double A hitters Sunday morning in Fort Myers, Fla., and is being brought along slowly from his lower back injury.

Timlin will be reevaluated in Los Angeles; the possibility remains that he, too, will go on the DL.

For now, the Sox will keep three catchers: Jason Varitek, Dusty Brown, and Cash. They also will have eight pitchers in the bullpen for the first two games, plus Clay Buchholz. Buchholz will be available for only the second game, in which he would be pitching on three days' rest, and would pitch only in an emergency.

Kielty has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave the team at the end of spring training. That date comes up at the end of the month, after the series in Los Angeles.

If Kielty is not added to the roster by then, he can sign with another club.

Kielty expected his roster spot to be contingent on a trade of Coco Crisp, but Crisp remains on the roster, his value having sunk because of a groin injury and the inability to showcase him.

An '09 Classic

Major League Baseball announced the four sites for the first round of the 2009 World Baseball Classic yesterday. Round 1 will be held at Tokyo Dome, Estadio Foro Sol in Mexico City, Rogers Centre in Toronto, and Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.

The pools have changed from the first year of the tournament, 2006, when it was won by Japan. China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, and Korea will play in Tokyo; Australia, Cuba, Mexico, and South Africa will play in Mexico City; Canada, Italy, the United States, and Venezuela will play in Toronto; and the Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Panama, and Puerto Rico will play in San Juan.

The first round will be double elimination with a crossover in the semifinal games, both format changes from the first WBC.

"The excitement in the arenas that we played in was far beyond what we imagined," said Varitek, who attended the news conference along with teammates David Ortiz and Alex Cora plus Oakland's Rich Harden and Huston Street. "The experience was phenomenal. The excitement was phenomenal. The level of play was phenomenal.

"It was just overall an exciting time, and I would encourage any of the American players to play."

Pedroia likely tops

Though manager Terry Francona declined to reveal his lineup for the opener, it was unlikely to change much from the exhibition games. That meant Dustin Pedroia was likely to lead off, with Kevin Youkilis batting second. Jacoby Ellsbury was expected to be down in the order, with the possibility that he moves up if he performs well to start the season . . . If it seemed odd that Doug Mirabelli was in the lineup before being scratched and released last week before a game in Fort Myers, it wasn't an accident. It had been determined that the catcher would be released. But in an effort to make things easier for Mirabelli, Francona put his name in the lineup. That way, when his teammates headed onto the field to begin preparations for the game, Mirabelli could be held back and informed of the decision. He then was able to slip out of the park without having to immediately face his teammates . . . Though Crisp said he has been tired in Japan, he also said that, physically, he is 100 percent. He said he has not yet had any conversations with Francona or the team about his role.

Sharing on caring

The Red Sox held their traditional team meeting before the first game. Among the topics was the fan base - "how people seem to care about the Red Sox and why they care," Francona said . . . Pedroia has a very different perspective on his second opener than he did on his first. "I was nervous," Pedroia said about last year. "I remember my first at-bat, I hit a ball down the line and got thrown out by 30 feet at second. If I get a hit, I'll definitely look in the outfield to see if he picked up the ball."