Of the top 30 Sox prospects chosen by Baseball America, four are from Latin America. One, Argenis Diaz, a 21-year-old shortstop from Venezuela, is on the team's 40-man roster and yesterday played in Boston's 7-6 exhibition win over the Twins. Hanley Ramirez, the Dominican-born shortstop and the best Latin prospect the Sox have ever had, was voted the 2006 National League Rookie of the Year for the Florida Marlins, the team to which he was traded in the Josh Beckett/Lowell deal.

In the new Sox media guide, 47 Latin players besides Diaz are listed among the team's minor leaguers. One, Dominican shortstop Oscar Tejada, played as a 17-year-old for Single A Lowell last season and at No. 9 is the team's highest-ranked Latin prospect. Another 17-year-old Dominican, third baseman Michael Almanzar, last summer was given a $1.5 million signing bonus, the largest the team ever has given to a Latin player.

Jed Lowrie got a start at shortstop, which the Sox believe is his best position. He can also play second and third.

"But I think anyone who can play short [well]," Francona said, "you want to have him there."

Lowrie will get work at the other infield positions this spring - perhaps even first, where he's yet to play - but the Sox aren't developing him to be a role player.

Lowrie is too young and too good to be assigned such a limited role.

"He's not looked at as a utility player," Francona said. "But I think if something happened [to one of the Sox' starting infielders], he can play almost anywhere."

"It's a good problem to have as an organization," Portland Sea Dogs Manager Arnie Beyeler said last week from Florida. "It's great competition, and that's the way it should be.

"Guys coming in from last year are going to have to make the team."

In other words, a spot on the Sea Dogs roster last year means little for 2008.

Few, if any, of the players who ended the 2007 season with the Sea Dogs are likely to be promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket.

But new players from Class A Lancaster are ready to move up.

Some returnees will obviously make the roster - prospects such as outfielder Bubba Bell, first baseman Aaron Bates and pitcher Michael Bowden.

Others can't feel so secure.

Here's a look at the competition, based on past performance and previous Red Sox moves.

Buchholz' location of his fastball was poor, and when he left it up in the strike zone, it got crushed. He left a high fastball over the middle of the plate to the first batter he faced, Jon Knott, who launched it over the left field wall. A pair of doubles and a pair of singles followed the opening blast.

The right-hander came out in his second frame throwing little else besides two-seam fastballs, and he got a pair of ground balls and a line drive to third baseman Mike Lowell.

A scout who has watched Buchholz pitch since he was at Angelina (Texas) Junior College didn't see anything concerning about the 28 pitches delivered.

"I thought his fastball was up and he got hit around, that's it," said the scout, who said Buchholz' fastball was clocked at 91-92 mph, with a curveball between 74-76 mph and a changeup and slider coming in at around 80. "He still has good movement on his fastball, a good curve, a good changeup.

Hansen, who was 3-1 with three saves and a 3.86 ERA at Triple-A Pawtucket last year, gave up four runs on two hits, three walks and a hit batter, allowing a workable, 4-2 deficit to balloon into a blowout.

"Once he got a little out of joint, he lost his release point and had a couple of different ones and things got away," manager Terry Francona said. "I think he has too good of stuff for that to happen, so we'll keep at it. It's not discouraging, but for him to be successful, he has to command. They all have to. I think if Hans gets to that point, he's going to be dominant. You have to give him a chance to get his legs under him and he will."

The Twins also have had opportunities to see the talent they passed on in the Sox organization. Ellsbury (0-for-3 against the Twins), Lowrie (1-for-5), Lester (five runs in one inning) and Crisp (2-for-4) all have entered games in the Fort Myers crosstown battle.

"I heard something about Santana," Ellsbury said. "Maybe a couple fans said something, but between the players, there was nothing."

With all this hype and small-sample performance comes celebrity gossip, endorsement opportunities, and the adulation of a Nation. It's a lot for a kid who has not yet been named a member of the starting lineup.

"It's all new," Ellsbury said yesterday morning, while standing in the visitors clubhouse at Roger Dean Stadium. "I used to laugh about it when there was a lot of stuff said and written about other people. Now I'm in it.

"Some of that stuff is true, some of it is not. But you can't read too much into it and think about it, even though it is pretty funny at times what people will say."

In theory, Ellsbury is battling incumbent Coco Crisp for the starting center field position. We all know better. The Sox can't come out and say it, but they are trying to trade Crisp, and if no deal is struck, Coco is going to the bench. There's no way Ellsbury comes to Fenway to serve as a fourth outfielder.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Clay Buchholz, 23, is the second-youngest player on the Red Sox's 40-man roster. Tim Wakefield, 41, is the second-oldest.

In his first major league spring training with the Red Sox, Buchholz has anchored himself to the veteran knuckleballer, soaking up the knowledge gathered during a professional career that began in 1989, when Buchholz was in kindergarten.

"I've been working out with Wakefield a lot, just hanging out with him," Buchholz said. "He's been around the game a lot longer than I have. I'm trying to learn the ropes and stay behind somebody that knows what they're doing."

FORT MYERS, Fla. - TOGETHER they form a baseball version of the Odd Couple.

At 41, Tim Wakefield is now in his 14th season with the Red Sox and his 13th spring training with his current club. He has been with the team for almost its entire exhibition season existence in Fort Myers, a tenure defined by a single mystifying pitch.

Clay Buchholz, the dazzling 23-year-old who threw a no-hitter in his second major-league start, was just 4 years old when Wakefield started his professional career in the Pirates system. Now, as he spends his first March in big-league camp, the experience remains one filled with an aw-shucks novelty.

"This is big-league camp," Buchholz remarked. "It's the real deal."

FORT MYERS, Fla. - IT SEEMED almost inevitable that the names Jed Lowrie and Jacoby Ellsbury surfaced as part of a trade proposal for Johan Santana this winter. For most of the decade, it has been nearly impossible for the two Red Sox prospects to avoid each other.

Their fates first entwined between their junior and senior years of high school, when the two played for the same Baseball Oregon traveling team in 2001. Neither player was heralded at the time.

Ellsbury's natural athleticism was obvious to those who watched him play center and run the bases. Yet there were questions about his bat, as the wiry 17-year-old clearly needed to build strength.

Lowrie was viewed as a talented hitter thanks largely to exceptional hand-eye coordination. But the middle infielder faced skepticism from scouts about his defensive abilities.

"They both were obviously Division I type players -- not necessarily pro prospects at the time," recalled Jeff McKay, one of the coaches for the team. "Everyone thought that Jacoby was a better athlete. But Jed probably had more success at that time."

For the second straight year, the Litchfield native and Alvirne High School alum is in major-league camp with the Sox. As a member of Boston's 40-man roster, the 24-year-old pitcher has an opportunity to demonstrate his talent to key decision makers.

That might explain the disappointment Jackson felt in the wake of yesterday's outing. Jackson, who pitched in Double-A for the Portland Sea Dogs last year, entered the ninth inning of an exhibition game against the Pirates, trying to close out a 5-2 lead.

Instead, the right-hander demonstrated a frustrating lack of command. He fell behind all four batters he faced, permitting a homer to Pirates prospect Steven Pearce, a walk and single. He was pulled after recording just one out, having thrown 24 pitches (12 balls).

The Sox' minor league staff has been conducting weeklong seminars, educating the entire staff on the club's approach to hitting, pitching, catching, base running, and outfield play. The organization has seven new staff members, including Ethan Faggett, assistant director of player development. Rich Sauveur, who spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues, begins his first season as Triple A pitching coach after spending the last two seasons in Double A with the Brewers. He replaces Mike Griffin. Tom Goodwin, who played 14 seasons in the big leagues, joins Gary DiSarcina as a coach in Lowell. Another former big leaguer, Billy McMillon, will be the hitting coach in Greenville, joining manager Kevin Boles, who the last two seasons managed the Twins' entry in the Gulf Coast League. McMillon, like Goodwin, will be making his coaching debut. Former Marlins pitcher Chuck Smith, another coaching novice, is the pitching coach for Lancaster, while former big league infielder Luis Lopez joins Lowell in his first pro coaching job. David Herrera joins the staff as trainer for the Gulf Coast Sox. What's striking is the diversity of the hires. Faggett, Goodwin, McMillon, and Smith are African-Americans. Minor league field coordinator Rob Leary notes that the club this winter invited 40 players to minicamp; 78 showed up. The first official minor league workout is scheduled for Sunday . . .

Ellsbury made an outstanding running catch heading to the right-center gap to make an over-the-shoulder tumbling catch, robbing Xavier Paul of extra bases for the final out.

"Unbelievable," marveled starter Tim Wakefield, who was on the mound at the time. "Just another example of how great he's going to be."