FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The setting was casual as general manager Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona, and later new pitching coach John Farrell, stepped out of the organization's meetings and offered their thoughts as spring training for the Boston Red Sox moved a day closer to Sunday's first official pitchers-and-catchers workout.

But there was some news to report.

Right fielder Wily Mo Pena and the Sox avoided Friday's arbitration hearing in Phoenix by agreeing to a one-year, $1.875-million deal. Pena, who batted .301 with 11 homers and 42 RBI in 84 games in an injury-plagued 2006 season, had been asking for $2.2 million, while Boston had been offering $1.725.

With that signing, all of the Red Sox who had been eligible for arbitration had come to terms with the club.

Pena, a 25-year-old whose offensive game features prodigious power and a propensity for strikeouts on offspeed breaking balls, will be the team's fourth outfielder, backing up left fielder Manny Ramirez, center fielder Coco Crisp and new right fielder J.D. Drew.

Epstein and Francona, though, mindful of his power, are hoping to give a healthy number of at-bats to Pena, who was obtained last spring from Cincinnati in a deal involving right-hander Bronson Arroyo.

"He can play left field, center field and right field, so every time someone needs a rest or is nicked up, he's going to get at-bats,'' said Francona. "It's our responsibility to find him enough at-bats so he can be productive.''

"There should be plenty of plate appearances for Wily Mo,'' said Epstein as he sat next to Francona on a bench at the Sox' minor-league complex.

"There are two goals for Wily Mo. We want him to continue to develop to become a complete player to reach his ceiling as a player, which is tremendous, while also contributing to help us win ballgames,'' said Epstein.

The Sox have goals in mind for more players than just Pena, who was out of action from May 27 to July 20 because of surgery to remove his left hamate bone.

Francona said that starting Saturday, when pitchers and catchers go through their physicals, he, Epstein and Farrell will sit down for one-on-one meetings with each pitcher.

"We'll explain the goals we have for them,'' said Francona. "We want the pitchers down here to concentrate on arm strength and throwing strikes.''

Today was the day pitchers and catchers were supposed to report. Francona and Epstein said they weren't aware of anyone who would have a problem making it into town on time, extending that to next week, when Francona said that Manny Ramirez, the player most likely to arrive late, as per his history, was "all set'' to appear in camp when expected.

Veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield was on hand, getting in a throwing session. Also arriving for the first time were catchers Jason Varitek and Doug Mirabelli, and veteran reliever Mike Timlin.

Timlin, who will turn 41 on March 10, was mentioned by Farrell as a closer candidate after both Epstein and Francona agreed that the bullpen provides the biggest question mark for the Red Sox, bent on returning to the playoffs after placing third, their worst finish in nine years, in 2006.

Farrell listed Timlin, Julian Tavarez and newcomers Brendan Donnelly and Joel Pineiro as the prime candidates for the role, which the Sox insisted they need to have nailed down before the team heads to Kansas City for Opening Day on April 2.

And don't expect the closer in Kansas City to be Jonathan Papelbon, whom Francona and Epstein both said would be a starter, in keeping with the team's medical staff advice that the right-hander would be better off pitching once every five days with a conditioning program in-between, as opposed to the unpredictable frequency and length of outing as a closer.

Other topics came up in the 15-minute session with Francona and Epstein.

Francona, for instance, said he was surprised to hear that former Boston closer Keith Foulke had retired today because of elbow pain. The Cleveland Indians had signed him to a one-year deal in the offseason. While Foulke irritated Sox fans -- and indirectly gave Burger King free publicity by saying after a bad outing in 2005 that he didn't care if "Johnny from Burger King'' booed him -- Francona's memories of the right-hander were more positive.

"I know Manny was the MVP (of the 2004 World Series), and he was deserving, but without (Foulke), we wouldn't have won in '04,'' said Francona of the Sox' stirring postseason, which culminated in Boston's first championship in 86 years.

Epstein, meanwhile, doesn't expect the media frenzy surrounding Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, nor the varied cultural adjustments having to be made by Dice-K and fellow Japanese pitcher Hideki Okajima, to be problems.

"We've had players from other countries before. We have a multicultural clubhouse. It may not be as big a deal inside the clubhouse as (people might think),'' said Epstein.

Epstein added, though, that the team would monitor the two Japanese pitchers, who are intent on learning English, as they try to get comfortable in this country and in the organization.

To that end, Farrell has been taking Japanese lessons, some of which focus on baseball-specific vocabulary so he can better communicate with them.

"I don't profess to be a linguist,'' said Farrell. "I look at it as a challenge. You want to effectively get the most out of each pitcher, and the more they can be understanding of what's being talked about, they can be more relaxed and their talent will come out. Our responsibility is to bridge that (communications) gap.''