Red Sox Alex Verdugo making progress in injury rehab – The Boston Globe

Every time I did something, it felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife in my back putting my shoes on, putting my socks on, said Verdugo. Now, I dont have any pain, nothing like that. I maybe have some soreness.

Verdugo and the Sox are trying to measure the pace of his buildup in activity, wanting to take a conservative approach to avoid a setback. Still, he characterized himself as close, very close to swinging.

We dont have a set date, but its soon, he said.

While Verdugo is still weeks away from being ready to play in games, interim manager Ron Roenicke hasnt given up on the idea that the outfielder might be ready to play in spring training games.

I would say that we start getting into the middle of March and on that hes got a chance to play some games, said Roenicke. I think he does [have a chance] depending on how fast he comes along with his swinging. Hes doing really well. We just havent asked him to swing a bat yet.

Major League Baseballs investigation into the 2018 Red Sox will not be finished this week after all. An industry source told the Globe on Tuesday that the findings will not be announced until next week at the earliest.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said Feb. 16 that his goal was to wrap up the inquiry by the end of this week. But unexpected delays related to scheduling have pushed that back.

The probe started six weeks ago after anonymous sources told The Athletic the Red Sox used live video to steal signs then relayed the information to runners at second base.

Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, Ian Kinsler, and J.D. Martinez are among the current and former Sox players who have denied that.

Red Sox principal owner John Henry, who also owns the Globe, and team president Sam Kennedy also said the teams 2018 championship was won fairly.

Sox manager Ron Roenicke said earlier Tuesday that the team was eager to have the investigation finished.

Tony Clark and members of the MLB Players Association met for roughly 1 hour, 45 minutes on Tuesday morning with Red Sox players and coaches. The conversation was split largely between potential sign-stealing regulations and matters related to the collective bargaining agreement.

After the conclusion, however, Clark couldnt help but notice a glaring absence from the meeting. Two weeks removed from the trade that sent Mookie Betts to the Dodgers, the MLBPA remained puzzled by the transaction.

Boston made whatever decision they made for whatever reason they made it. I think that a face of our game, someone that should be more a face of our game, being put in that position, I dont think it was necessary, said Clark. I know theyve offered some commentary publicly, but youd have to ask Boston as to why thats the case. We simply believe that Mookie is a generational talent. And the idea that he is no longer here is one that we just didnt believe was necessary.

The Sox have stated that their trade of Betts was driven by baseball reasons. Nonetheless, the teams stated desire to get its payroll below the $208 million luxury-tax threshold in the coming season and thus resetting the penalties associated with future overages is consistent with what Clark sees as teams using the threshold as an excuse to cap payroll.

We think there are a number of aspects in our CBA that need to be addressed. If the competitive balance tax is being used in the fashion that its being used and the excuse that its being used for, then its something were going to look at, said Clark. The assumptions that we made [in negotiating the current CBA] were predicated on what it was that teams had been doing in the past.

What weve seen, though, is a dramatic change and shift in how those teams are functioning against the backdrop of how they may have functioned five or 10 years ago. As a result, were going to need to modernize the system to reflect the changes that were seeing.

A year ago, Ryan Weber was a nonroster invitee to camp, a virtual unknown simply hoping to position himself for a big league call-up during the season. But after making 18 big league appearances, including three starts, with the Sox last year going 2-4 with a 5.09 ERA in 40 innings Weber is now in a very different position.

The 29-year-old is competing for a potential rotation spot. In his first appearance in that quest, he threw a pair of scoreless innings against an Orioles split-squad unit on Tuesday, allowing two hits, walking none, and striking out a batter.

Just knowing that they have the confidence in me puts a lot of accountability on me, which I really like, said Weber. Im not just another depth piece to them, I think. It makes every pitch really, really matter at this point. Im trying to make the team and prove to them that ... I am a big league pitcher and I can go out and I can start games, I can pitch deep in the games or I can throw multiple innings out of the bullpen. I can do what they want me to do.

Lefthander Chris Sale is scheduled to have a bullpen session on Wednesday in which he throws, sits, then throws again, a controlled simulation of a multi-inning workload ... Eduardo Rodriguez (left knee) was fine after Mondays live batting practice session and will start in a Grapefruit League game on Saturday ... The Red Sox lineup against the Orioles featured J.D. Martinez in left field, Andrew Benintendi in center, and Jackie Bradley Jr. in right, an alignment Roenicke said the team might use during the season at Fenway ... Xander Bogaerts (ankle) took ground balls for a second straight day ... Rafael Devers could make his first appearance in a game as soon as Friday.

Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @alexspeier.

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Red Sox Alex Verdugo making progress in injury rehab - The Boston Globe