The Red Sox have made their final cuts and, as expected, Dennys Reyes and Matt Albers are in while Hideki Okajima and Alfredo Aceves are out.
The decision to keep Reyes and Albers was likely made with the intention of preserving depth as much as having the best players on the team. While Reyes and Albers did make the most sense statistically speaking, both would have been free to go elsewhere had the Sox not kept them on the 25-man, while Okajima and Aceves are now both down in Pawtucket, available should the need arise.
Albers, formerly of the Baltimore Orioles, was one of the larger surprises of spring. With a 2.84 ERA and 13 strikeouts to just a pair of walks, he showed none of the control struggles that had hurt him in Baltimore. Dennys Reyes ended with a 2.70 ERA, and while he had strong peripherals to start, his walks have climbed of late while his strikeouts remained stationary.
Barring injury, here is your 2011 Red Sox roster for opening day:
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
Marco Scutaro, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
J.D. Drew, RF
David Ortiz, DH
Jed Lowrie, IF
Mike Cameron, OF
Darnell McDonald, OF
Jon Lester, SPJohn Lackey, SP
Clay Buchholz, SP
Josh Beckett, SP
Daniel Bard, RP
Bobby Jenks, RP
Dan Wheeler, RP
Matt Albers, RP
Dennys Reyes, RP
Tim Wakefield, RP