Well the Red Sox made a few more roster cuts on Tuesday. They sent down Kason Gabbard to Triple-A Pawtucket and they also told Joe McEwing and Bobby Scales that they will not make the big league team. However they were told that they will stay on the spring training roster until after the Red Sox head north to play in the exhibition games against the Phillies on March 30 and 31st.

For Gabbard, it’s just a matter of competing for a spot in a rotation that consists of Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jonathan Papelbon, and Tim Wakefield. Plus with Jon Lester on the horizon for the Sox as well, this will be a tough rotation to crack barring injuries.

For you diehard Sox fans who follow them during spring training, you may have noticed one person absent from the lineup for the past week. His name. Coco Crisp. He has missed the past week due to a shoulder injury. He said he tweaked his shoulder on a bad swing. Plus with the Red Sox facing 3 lefties this week, manager Terry Francona decided it was best for Coco to rest. The reason. He is a switch-hitter and the shoulder bothers him right now when he bats from the right side. He says his finger is good. Hopefully this shoulder thing is no big deal because we need a healthy Coco roaming centerfield in Fenway this year.

Bad news Sox fans. We will be without one of our mainstays in the bullpen to start the season. Mike Timlin, who is sidelined with a strained oblique muscle, will start the season on the disabled list. The earliest he can come of the disabled list is April 10th, which also happens to be the Red Sox home opener against Seattle.

“We need him to be out (in) the bullpen the whole year,” Francona said. “I’d love to have him ready Opening Day, but I don’t think it’s a smart idea to rush him. To do it, I think we have a chance to lose a good pitcher, and we don’t want to do that.”

So what does this mean for the Sox to start the season. Well for one, that narrows the closer’s race even more. With Craig Hansen and Mike Timlin out of the mix now, that leaves the door open for Joel Piñero, Julian Tavarez and Brendan Donnelly as the candidates to close out games. Well because I have been saying this all spring training, I am going to add one more name, Jonathan Papelbon. Highly unlikely to happen but still. Peter over at Peter’s Red Sox Forever has a good story about how Papelbon may be the best closer on the team. Right now, Piñero to me is the front runner. He has pitched very well over his last few appearances and seems to be getting a better grasp on the role. He finished off Tuesday’s game against the Twins for his first save of spring training. He will probably need to remain perfect or almost perfect thru the rest of spring training. Does anyone sense a possible trade?