While the odds on favorite to be named the Red Sox 5th starter to open the season is Felix Doubront (mostly due to his lack of options), Sox assistant GM Mike Hazen wants you to know that the race is "far from over".
Scott Lauber from the Herald has the info:
For now, though, Daniel Bard has the No. 4 starter job in a vice grip. His reliever-to-starter transition is going about as smoothly as the Red Sox could have hoped, as he continues to get used to pitching out of the windup and to develop a between-starts routine that suits him.
That leaves four in-house options — right-handers Alfredo Aceves and Vicente Padilla, and lefties Felix Doubront and Andrew Miller — to duke it out for the fifth-starter spot, and it’s possible that Doubront has emerged as the favorite.
It will be interesting to see how these dominos fall, once the 5th starter is named.
Lauber writes that not only does Aceves prefer to start, but his agent, Tom O'Connell "expects" Aceves to be part of the Sox starting rotation. Aceves is the ultimate team player, so if he's slotted in the pen (which is clearly where he holds the most value for the Sox) I can't see him making any waves over it. And Aceves is probably the one player on that list that I feel could easily transition from the pen to the rotation without any hiccups.
Padilla, who's having a solid spring, should make the final big league roster in some capacity. Valentine had some mild praise with a hint of caution for Vincente:
“He’s a strike-thrower. He’s probably the best strike-thrower we have,” Valentine said. “I’m not sure that we’re going to think of him of being a strikeout pitcher. We’re going to think about him as being a strike pitcher, and strikes usually get hit. The key is to not have them get hit real far. He keeps the ball in the park.”
And Andrew Miller simply gets his name added to the list by default. He won't be the Sox 5th starter. He'll more than likely find himself in Pawtucket, or somewhere else, to start the year. Like Doubront, Miller is out of minor league options; except I doubt the Sox would care too much if he got plucked off of waivers. He's still chock full of potential, and worth keeping in the minors if the Sox can get him through waivers. But he simply can't be trusted with the ball during games that count. Not yet.
We have four guys fighting for one spot. Two of the losers will certainly stick with Boston, regardless of the winner. Bobby Valentine promised some competition and drama in Spring Training. I think we were oversold on that one.