As the baseball world debates his fate, Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield does not

Watching Tim Wakefield's spring unfold vividly illustrates the cocoon in which most major league athlete live.

To objective eyes, the ageless Red Sox knuckleballer is on the roster bubble. It's not because he can't pitch anymore, Friday's four-homer bust against the Rays notwithstanding.

It's the raft of relievers fighting for seven or possibly eight bullpen spots. Five are already filled with the names Papelbon, Jenks, Bard, Wheeler and Okajima (first among lefties).

But Wakefield, sitting at his locker the other night, treated his spring as any other. It was all about preparing for another long season, his 17th with Boston, and nothing about making the roster.

Unless he buffaloed the assembled media, then went home to study Scott Atchison's ERA or wonder how many lefties will be kept, he thinks he's in.

I was there, and he convinced me he believes this.

Hours early, Terry Francona had refused to say Wakefield has a spot.
"These guys have a stressful enough couple of weeks as it is. I'm not going to make it worse,'' the manager of all the bullpen hopefuls.

In doing so, Francona was typically being prudent and fair. By including Wakefield with "these guys,'' though, he left the undeniable impression nothing is certain for the No. 3 all-time winner in Red Sox pitching annals.

If Wakefield were a sure bet to make it, Francona would not need such diplomacy. Ask him if Bobby Jenks has a spot, for instance, and he will probably ask how you escaped Mars and wangled a media credential.

I am glad Wakefield is not my decision. Fans have been alternately canonizing and criticizing him for 15 years, but he's a trooper who I admire and respect.

It's obvious to all but one person, though, that Wakefield is a difficult fit for this bullpen. There are too many viable candidates, not too few.

It would be nice to keep him as a No. 6 starter in reserve, but is it worth tying up a spot for that?

Last spring, Wakefield spent the entire spring, convinced he was a starter because that was what he was told. When Daisuke Matsuzaka got healthy, and Clay Buchholz could no longer be kept down on the farm, Wake was out of the rotation.

No one knows the twists and turns of baseball fate better than Wakefield, who spent most of his long career, seeking the security he has mostly enjoyed with Francona. Losing his rotation spot still stunned him.

If outward appearances can be trusted, losing his roater spot would shock him. It would be a total blindside, the likes of which nobody should enjoy comtemplating, whether you think the Red Sox should keep him or not.

He gave no recognition to what others see as a real prospect.

This is no knock on Wakefield. Ballplayers cannot be expected to review the total picture; they have enough to think about, keeping their own house in order.

That is what Wakefield is doing. Next up is a minor league game Thursday, where he will get in some work.

The buyout would be cheap ($1.5 million), but he can still pitch. He might yet make this team. 

After Friday's game, Francona agreed that Wakefield's best approach was to wind into shape. The manager does not place much stock on Grapefruit League numbers, anyway.

Nothing in his comments indicated that at 44, Wakefield is being judged through the prism of an exhibition game result.

But that does not mean Wakefield is a lock. Looking at the roster numbers, I give him a 50-50 chance and maybe a touch better, knowing the Red Sox would very much like to find a way to keep him. 

In Wakefield's eyes, it's 100-0. Of course he's in.

A very difficult decision awaits the Red Sox. Its venerable pitcher is in the cocoon of the veteran athlete, keeping his eyes only on what he must do and not what it all might mean.

Just as well. Fretting never accomplished anything, even if circumstances provide a reason for a man who does not acknowledge what a world of outside observers already do.