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Boston Red Sox: As far as anybody knows, Nomar Garciaparra will be standing in the shortstop position come Opening Day. Manager Terry Francona is certainly thinking along those lines. "I think Nomar is, too. I haven't heard anything to the contrary," he told Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe. Garciaparra has been limited to just four games this spring due to tendinitis in his right Achilles. Added Francona, "The good news is that we've got a guy who can go over there and catch everything in sight," he said in reference to Pokey Reese, who will slide over from second in case Garciaparra cannot answer the bell. Reese has logged 222 games at shortstop in his career.

Chicago White Sox: Juan Uribe has won the right to start at second base on Opening Day but he is not necessarily the team's second baseman. Manager Ozzie Guillen is keeping his options open and will get Willie Harris plenty of playing time, just not against lefthanders -- against whom he struggles. Uribe arrived via trade from Colorado where he had developed a bad reputation. "I think we had a bad scouting report on him,'' Guillen told Scott Gregor of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald. "They said he wasn't too smart and he has a lot of problems. He's been pretty good.''

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