Sox pre-game: Tito's Takes

NEW YORK --- Sox manager Terry Francona met with the media for his usual pre-game sit-down in an interview room at Yankee Stadium and shared his thoughts on the acquisition early Wednesday of outfielder Mark Kotsay from the Atlanta Braves, Josh Beckett's status, and the front office's role in replenishing the ranks of the Sox injury-plagued roster, among other things.

Francona said he had quick conversation with Kotsay, 32, who was batting .289 with 6 homers and 37 RBI in 81 games for the Braves this season. Francona said he was uncertain about Kotsay's availability for tonight's game. "He was supposed to be jumping on a plane to get up here,'' Francona said. "I think he's supposed to arrive at LaGuardia around like 5:10 and that probably gets him here around 11:30.''

Give or take a few hours for rush-hour traffic.

Obviously, the Sox will have to make a corresponding roster move either sending Joe Thurston back to Pawtucket or, quite possibly, putting Sean Casey, whom Francona said seemed to suffer a bit of a setback with his stiff neck, on the disabled list.

"I know that I've gotten messages from people all over the league that said he's like everybody's all-time favorite,'' Francona said of Kotsay. "I know he's a real professional and that he's real excited about coming here and he said he'd do anything we asked to try and help us win.''

Asked if he looked to use Kotsay in right or left field, Francona said, "We'll talk to him about that, but the one thing I've heard about him is that if he can walk, he'll play. I've heard that from numerous people.''

Here are Terry's Takes on other clubhouse matters:

• On the tireless work of the front office replenishing an injury-depleted roster, acquiring a starting pitcher (Paul Byrd), going after (but failing to come up with) Brian Giles, and landing Kotsay after the July 31 trading deadline: "I just think Theo thought getting a guy like Kotsay certainly can't hurt our chances. If something does happen -- I mean, J.D [Drew]'s on the DL right now -- if somebody else goes on the DL and you get into September then you can't do something. So getting a guy like Kotsay is only going to help us ... I think it's a balancing act; you try to respect what those guys in the clubhouse have done -- and done together -- and at the same time, make moves that try to help our ball club. I think our front office has done a real good job of that, never forgetting the fact these guys spend so much time together, but knowing that we're a little beat up and trying to get where we're trying to go. I think they've done a good job of balancing that.''

• On the continued monitoring of Beckett's status: "One thing we'll continue to do is monitor every day and always reserve the right to do what we think is in his best interest and ours, but I think he's doing OK. The one thing we don't want him to do -- and we've told him this about 100 times -- is pitch with any kind of concern in his head. We've kind of beat him in the head over that. We'll just continue to monitor how he feels. I think it'd be hard to compete when you're thinking your way through your delivery and you know you have some question marks about that. We've been very upfront with him about that. This is a guy we're going to rely on not just on Friday but a lot of Fridays to come.''

• On whether Casey had done any better with his stiff neck: "Not particularly. He tried to hit a little bit [Tuesday] and it actually kind of knocked him backwards a little bit... If there is [a chance of putting him on the disabled list], we're not going to do it yet. I think with a stiff neck, we feel like there's more of an opportunity for him to show up and feel better than we do with a back. So we're going to hold off on that one.''

• On the planned implementation of instant replay, which he'll see in Friday night's game at Fenway against the visiting White Sox: "I think the one thing we all care about is consistency. And I don't mean, the consistency of calls, but the schedule and things like that. Until we learn about and see how the whole thing is going to work, I guess you have concerns about where it's going to happen and how it's going to happen... I know they don't care what I think, but I just think if you had another umpire on the crew, and you put him in the press box, with a little monitor, he could say, 'Hey, you missed that call,' and it would take 10 seconds.They have the ability to watch a replay, just like everybody in the clubhouse does and it would be over, and it would be a great teaching tool for younger umpires who come into the league.''