Boston continues to lag behind the pack in the AL Wild Card race. Fortunately they finish the season against a collection of teams under .500 while Anaheim and Seattle will face the rigors of their own division, so the Red Sox remain in contention for the postseason. Boston bolstered their September roster with OF-R Benny Agbayani, CR-R Shane Andrews, C-R Kevin L. Brown, RHP Wayne Gomes, RHP Josh Hancock, and IF-R Freddy Sanchez to aid them in their pursuit of the playoffs.

The Red Sox grabbed Agbayani off waivers from Colorado in the last week of August. While the Rockies certainly had little use for Agbayani considering their current overflow of outfield talent, I'm somewhat surprised that they waived him before September rather than wait to see if they could work out a small trade. Agbayani played poorly for the first few months of the season in Colorado, but his AAA numbers indicate he corrected his problems. Boston thinks a lot of Agbayani and has already demonstrated a willingness to play him. I expect he'll receive steady pinch-hit opportunities with an occasional start in place of Trot Nixon.

Andrews signed a minor league deal with Boston this off-season and has spent the year with their AAA team at Pawtucket in the International League. His performance at AAA indicates his skill set remains on par with his 1998-2000 major league seasons. Back problems relegated him to the minors after the 2000 season, but provided he's healthy, he could easily re-emerge as a reserve corner infielder sometime in the next couple years. Andrews strikes out frequently, however he can take a walk and offers a team a right-handed hitter with a moderate amount of power. He could easily steal some playing time from the crowd at first base in Boston and will likely pinch-hit occasionally.

Forever doomed to be known as the other Kevin Brown or at least Kevin L. Brown, he's been around as a AAAA catcher for the last seven years. He offers a little power with the .235 BA and .650 OPS of a non-offense oriented catcher. He'll provide the Red Sox with typical third catcher services, allowing them to pinch-hit freely for their primary catchers late in games. If I were this Kevin Brown, I'd be particularly irritated to know that Kevin was the middle name of the "good" Kevin Brown, who could have instead gone by his proper name of James Brown (Fifteen million dollars a year doesn't seem unreasonable for the hardest working man in show business).

Gomes signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox early in the season. He spent most of July with Boston before heading to the minors when the team acquired Allen Embree. Based on his skill level and previous time on the roster, I don't expect Boston to use him heavily. However they have one of the shallower pens this September, so he should receive semi-regular work in low-impact situations to help keep the remainder of the bullpen fresh for more important jobs.

Boston drafted Hancock out of Auburn University in the 5th round of the 1998 draft. He's progressed steadily through their minor league system, spending a season each at A, A+, and AAA. The 24-year-old began this season back at AA Trenton in the Eastern League before advancing to AAA Pawtucket after compiling a 69:18 K:BB with 82 H and 9 HR allowed in 84.2 IP for a 3.61 ERA in AA. Before receiving his September call-up, Hancock made 8 starts with AAA in which he had a 29:26 K:BB with 39 H and 2 HR allowed in 44.1 IP for a 3.45 ERA. He absolutely needs more time in AAA before he's ready for a major league job, and his stats don't indicate exciting upside even after additional minor league experience. Unfortunately, Boston didn't have many pitchers on their 40-man roster that were healthy and not already in the majors.

The Red Sox drafted Freddy Sanchez out of Oklahoma City University in the 11th round of the 2000 draft. He split last season between A+ Sarasota in the Florida State League and AA Trenton. This season Sanchez returned to AA Trenton to start the year before advancing to AAA Pawtucket. The 24-year-old has demonstrated competent plate discipline with good speed and minimal power skills. In order to avoid stunting his progress, Boston should return him to AAA for at least half of next season. However, he should develop into at least a very nice infield reserve as he can play 2B, SS, and 3B, and he could probably start if there's an opening. This month he'll likely be limited to pinch-hitting and spelling the regulars in blowouts.

Boston needed to open one spot on the 40-man to accommodate their September call-ups. The team created room by moving Jeff Wallace to the 60-day DL. Wallace began the season on the disabled list and was optioned to AAA rather than activated when he felt healthy in June. His elbow soreness recurred in August, sending him back to the DL, which is regrettable for the Red Sox as they could have used some additional help in the bullpen this month.

The organization lacks the strong 40-man rosters of most other playoff teams, which either have upper level prospects or quality AAAA veterans. Although the composition of their 40-man roster is far less important than that of their 25-man roster, the Red Sox's front office has failed to maximize their productivity at a time when they need every win to reach the playoffs. A couple of the players they might have promoted this month are injured and several more have so little time in AA and/or AAA that they'd be of little use. However even given the poor state of the roster, Boston likely could have provided manager Grady Little with a few more options by calling up three or four more players. Both 1B-R Juan Diaz and UT-S Bryant Nelson should be in the majors this month, and given the shallowness of the Red Sox's bullpen, I probably would have promoted right-handers Juan Pena and Andy Shibilo as well. Hopefully, Little wouldn't need them, in which case he wouldn't have to use them, but better to have the players available and not want them, then want them and not have them available.