Brad Wilkerson Retires

Well that was fast...

After an eight-year major-league career, outfielder Brad Wilkerson has retired, Triple-A Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson told the Providence Journal. After Pawtucket's second game of the season, Wilkerson went into Johnson's office and told him that his time in baseball was done. "Second game of the season, he came in afterwards and that was it," Johnson told the newspaper. "He didn't have the fire anymore (ESPN)."

What he really means he is can't hit the fucking ball anymore. Wilkerson was signed by the Red Sox in February to compete for a spot on the roster after Mark Kotsay had back surgery. He came into camp as the front-runner for the spot., but he couldn't get his batting average above .200, and struck out 1/2the times he was at the plate.

Brad Wilkerson Leaves Sox

"The Red Sox have not made a formal announcement yet, but Red Sox manager Terry Francona acknowledged this morning that Brad Wilkerson has at least temporarily left the club to assess his options, suggesting that he will not be part of the Red Sox' plans when the club breaks camp (Boston.com)."

Wilkerson has been awful this spring training, and I think the Sox told him he was not going to make the team. Now he has to decide if he will accept their offer to go to the minors, or try to go to another team. I don't think we will be seeing Wilkerson again after a dreadful spring at the plate, batting .119 with 18 strikeouts in 42 at-bats. His deal allowed him the option to leave the club April 1 if he wasn't on the big league roster, so now that the Sox have told him he is not going to make it he is starting to look around to other teams. I am actually happy about this, because both Jeff Bailey and Chris Carter have been playing great, and they both deserve a shot. Now it will be beween the two of them to see who gets one of the final spots on the roster. Bailey is batting .357 this spring, and Carter is hitting .350.

Kotsay Out Till May

The Brad Wilkerson signing is starting to make a lot more sense now, as Mark Kotsay will be out until at least May after undergoing back surgery. The strange thing about all this is that the Sox did not know (according to the Boston Globe) that he needed this surgery when they signed him, so you have to wonder if the Red Sox are pissed off about all of this. Anyways, Wilkerson can fill his spot for the time being, because he is also a backup outfielder/first baseman. He might be needed if the Sox have any injury problems with Rocco, Drew, or Lowell. I like Kotsay a lot, and the Sox shouldn't really need him till later in the season, so hopefully all of this will blow over and not be a big deal.

Plus the Sox always need his wife at Fenway...

Red Sox Sign Brad Wilkerson

"MLBTR has learned tonight that the Red Sox have signed outfielder Brad Wilkerson to a minor league deal with roster and playing time incentives. Wilkerson, 31, hit .220/.308/.326 in 309 plate appearances for the Mariners and Blue Jays in 2008. The Ms signed Wilkerson last year for $3MM but designated him for assignment before May (Sportsline)."

The Sox seem like they are set for outfielders, but depth is never a bad thing, especially when you have two very injury prone outfielders on your roster (Drew, Rocco). This is a really good move for the Sox, it really fits in their philosophy this offseason, which is sign low risk high reward players. Wilkerson is only 1 year removed from hitting 20 HRs, and though he has never had a high OBP, he hits for power, and could be a very good player for the Sox to have on their bench. He will be spending a lot of time with the PawSox, but he really is good insurance in case Rocco and Drew go down.