Valentine speaks on Iglesias

"He might be leading off a couple of games," Valentine said. "Guys we haven't seen, that the jury's still out on, have them play when the game is fresh and turn that third at-bat over sooner." Valentine said he is looking for more than just better plate discipline from the rookie, who walked just 21 times in 387 plate appearances last season in Pawtucket. "For my money, when he's a good baseball player on the major league level his offensive resume has to read more than plate discipline," Valentine said. "He has to be able to bunt for base hits in game situations. A man on second, no outs, he'd better be able to bunt for a hit and get that man over. Squeeze if necessary, if it's a big run and I don't want to take his defense out of the game. Hit-and-run in situations where I need runners to advance and I don't just want to sacrifice. "His offense needs to be fine-tuned. Then if he learns to start his swing a little sooner so he's not jumping at the ball, his discipline will follow. I think. We'll see. He has pretty good skills. I'm surprised at his skills. "I wouldn't be embarrassed playing him if he was only a really skilled defensive player. I've only seen him catch grounders. I haven't seen him play shortstop one game." 

 That's from Gordon Edes' notes column on ESPNBoston.com, and it's Bobby Valentine talking about Jose Iglesias. It's interesting because of the way that Bobby V says WHEN he's ready. To me, that means that Bobby V doesn't think that Iglesias is ready to start right away. Even though the other options are Mike Aviles and the immortal Nick Punto - leading people to speculate that the Sox would go with Iglesias from the start - it looks like it's going to be a little while before Iglesias is manning short for the big league club.