BOSTONThe Red Sox will not be holding their rookie development program this offseason."With all the change to coaching and medical staff we are going to focus January on making sure we are fully prepared for spring training," Sox general manager Ben Cherington said in a text. "The rookie program will return in 2013."
The program, usually conducted over two weeks each January, is designed to get minor-league players who may be close to the big leagues accustomed to life in Boston both on and off the field. The program consists of workouts at the Boston College bubble for about a dozen players, who stay with host families in the area, as well as media sessions and seminars with Sox personnel, including the major league manager and coaches, and others outside the organization. Celtic coach Doc Rivers had been a guest in recent years. Some of the high-profile Sox minor leaugers who have participated in recent years include catcher Ryan Lavarnway, shortstop Jose Iglesias, first baseman Lars Anderson, outfielders Josh Reddick and Ryan Kalish, third baseman Will Middlebrooks, as well as pitcher Casey Kelly and first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who were sent to San Diego in the trade that brought first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to Boston.