Raul helps team chemistry

Everyone was pleased with the way Raul Ibanez replaced Pat Burrell last year, even though the Phillies didn't achieve as much as they did in 2008.

Ibanez isn't resting on his laurels and, in a true spirit of SoxandPhils, has even helped the Red Sox. When Adrian Beltre considered whether to sign with the Red Sox, he was concerned about stealing Mike Lowell's spot.

Today's story by the Globe's Amalie Benjamin almost suggests that Beltre didn't want to come to Boston purely out of respect to the 2007 World Series MVP. But Ibanez, who played with Beltre in Seattle and is a friend of Lowell, put those feelings to rest:

"I talked to [Ibanez] and said I was thinking about calling Mike before," Beltre said. "He said, 'Don't. Just talk to him when you're in spring training. Mike's a great dude, and he'll understand.'"
[...]
"Those are things that you can't control," Ibanez said. "You can't look to the left or to the right or behind you. You can only look at what's right in front of you and control what's right in front of you."

And, now despite a situation that can't be welcomed for Lowell, the two are handling things very classy and professionally:

Their stories are intertwined, the new third baseman and the old. Their lockers are close together. They take ground balls one after the other, inhabiting a spot big enough for only one. A situation that could have bred distrust and strife in a clubhouse has not, from all evidence, though it is clear that, on many days, Lowell would rather be just about anywhere else.

Perhaps that's because they are, as Ibanez calls them, "two of the best people I've had the pleasure of knowing."

Thanks, Raul. If Lowell's still around in October, I'm sure he'll tip a bottle of champagne to you before he dumps it on Beltre.

Christine's psychic powers strike again: Yesterday, Christine and I were discussing Jamie Moyer's good spring. I noted that Tim Wakefield, the other SoxandPhils elder statesman, was also exceeding expectations. She asked me what the Red Sox were going to do with their rotation, and I said they'll probably start Daisuke Matsuzaka in the minors on injury rehab and then see what unfolds.

"Oh yeah," she said. "And he hasn't even had his annual spring injury yet."

Oops. A stiff neck has officially reduced the number of starters the Red Sox could use to start the season from six to five.

And, last week, Christine and I were talking about Ryne Sandberg, and she noted how no one else has that name. Today's spring training update: "Josh Beckett is sick and will not start today. Minor leaguer Ryne Miller will get the nod."

Her insulting questioning of Beckett being sick on a Sunday morning will be ignored.