Sea Dogs Opening Day Roster: Position Players

The Portland Sea Dogs, the Double-A Eastern League affiliate of the Red Sox, announced their Opening Day roster Monday. The Sea Dogs are scheduled to open their season Thursday in New Britain, CT.

Here are thumbnail sketches of the 12 position players on the Sea Dogs roster. Thumbnails of the 12 pitchers appeared yesterday.


CATCHERS
John Otness: Hit .227 with no homers and 24 RBI for Double-A Portland last year…Signed by the Sox as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Washington in 2004…Will wear uniform number 11.

Mark Wagner: Hit .318 with 14 homers, 82 RBI, 55 walks and 46 strikeouts at Single-A Lancaster last year…Ranked 13th in Diehard’s 2008 prospect guide…Selected by the Sox out of Cal-Irvine in the ninth round of the 2004 draft…Will wear uniform number 5.

INFIELDERS
Aaron Bates: Hit .306 with 28 homers and 101 RBI between Single-A Lancaster and Double-A Portland last year…Hit four homers in a game for Lancaster May 19…Led all Sox minor leaguers in home runs…Ranked eighth in Diehard’s 2008 prospect guide…Selected by the Sox out of North Carolina State in the third round of the 2006 draft…Will wear uniform number 33.

Tony Granadillo: Hit .326 with eight homers and 67 RBI between Single-A Lancaster and Double-A Portland last year…Ranked third among Sox farmhands in batting average…Selected by the Sox from the Cardinals in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft in 2004…Will wear uniform number 24.

Ryan Khoury: Hit .300 with 11 homers and 69 RBI at Single-A Lancaster last year…Selected by the Sox out of the University of Utah in the 12th round of the 2006 draft…Will wear uniform number 2.

Jeff Natale: Hit .270 with five homers, 64 RBI, 88 walks and 36 strikeouts at Double-A Portland last year…Ranked 40th in Diehard’s 2008 prospect guide…Selected by the Sox out of Trinity College in the 32nd round of the 2005 draft…Will wear uniform number 23.

Andrew Pinckney: Hit .264 with 14 homers and 64 RBI at Double-A Portland last year…Ranked 34th in Diehard’s 2008 prospect guide…Selected by the Sox out of Emory University in the 34th round of the 2004 draft…Will wear uniform number 30.

Iggy Suarez: Hit .273 with four homers and 48 RBI between Single-A Lancaster and Double-A Portland last year…Has spent parts of the previous two seasons with the Sea Dogs…Selected by the Sox out of Southwest Texas State in the 24th round of the 2003 draft…Will wear uniform number 17.


OUTFIELDERS
Bubba Bell: Hit .337 with 26 homers, 105 RBI, 14 stolen bases, 62 walks and 56 strikeouts between Single-A Lancaster and Double-A Portland…Was named the California League’s Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year as well as the MVP of the California/Carolina League All-Star Game…Ranked first among Sox farmhands in batting average and second in home runs and RBI…Ranked 22nd in Diehard’s 2008 prospect guide…Selected by the Sox out of Nicholls State in the 39th round of the 2005 draft…Will wear uniform number 10.

Zach Daeges: Hit .330 with 21 homers and 113 RBI at Single-A Lancaster…Led the California League in RBI, runs scored (124) and doubles (55), the latter of which ranked first among all minor leaguers…Ranked 20th in Diehard’s 2008 prospect guide…Selected by the Sox out of Creighton in the sixth round of the 2006 draft…Will wear uniform number 32.

Sean Danielson: Hit .296 with four homers, 36 RBI and 19 stolen bases between Single-A Palm Beach and Double-A Springfield in the Cardinals’ organization…Acquired by the Sox from the Cardinals as the player to be named later in the Joel Pineiro trade Nov. 2, 2007…Will uniform number 6.

Jay Johnson: Hit .269 with six homers and 81 RBI between Single-A Lancaster and Double-A Portland last year…Ranked 41st in Diehard’s 2008 prospect guide…Selected by the Sox out of Xavier in the 13th round of the 2005 draft…Will wear uniform number 12.


DISABLED LIST
Andrew Dobies, P
Matt Goodson, P
Tommy Hottovy, P
Jeff Corsaletti, OF