The 70th Boston Baseball Writers’ Dinner is tonight in Boston.

The event will feature Red Sox players past, present and future, and it usually serves as the official countdown to the start of spring training.

Red Sox players, personnel and fans will gather at the Westin Waterfront Hotel in anticipation of the 2009 season, but this winter there’s a different feel to the annual event.

There are more questions surrounding the Red Sox than there are answers as this offseason has been a long and strange one for general manager Theo Epstein & Co. Boston lost out on free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira, who signed a monster deal with the Yankees. Other available big-name free agents also signed elsewhere.

With a little more than a month until camp opens for pitchers and catchers in Fort Myers, Fla., Epstein still has a few things to figure out.

Manager Terry Francona, who will attend tonight’s dinner, said during the winter meetings in Las Vegas last month that one of the most frustrating things to deal with during the offseason is not having your team complete.

He says he knows Epstein is working hard, and he has total confidence that the GM will have all of the pieces in place before the start of spring training.

The club’s catching situation is the first priority.

Jason Varitek remains a free agent, and the sides are still talking. The Red Sox have signed catcher Josh Bard to a one-year non-guaranteed contract, with a club option for 2010.

The 30-year-old switch-hitter is a good addition, but he’s not the solution. Down on the farm, there’s George Kottaras and Dusty Brown, both of whom could be candidates in the future, but not necessarily in 2009.

It’s no secret the Red Sox have talked with other clubs about the possibility of a trade that involves a catcher for one of Boston’s many pitching prospects.

The Texas Rangers have two young catchers and are willing to part with one of them — either Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden.

The Rangers have had discussions with the Red Sox, but nothing concrete.

The best-case scenario could be having Varitek return with a short-term deal and Bard serve as his backup.

That would also mean Varitek would have to catch knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who has had his own personal batterymate — either Doug Mirabelli or Kevin Cash.

Bard returns to Boston, where he spent only seven games at the start of the 2006 season. He came to the Red Sox to work with Wakefield but couldn’t handle the knuckleball. Bard was traded to the Padres, and Mirabelli returned to Boston.

If Varitek does not return and the Red Sox don’t make a trade, Bard would be the starter, with Kottaras and Brown battling for the backup job in spring training.

With Teixeira wearing pinstripes, Mike Lowell will remain in Boston. The veteran third baseman had hip surgery in November but should be ready for the start of spring training. If he is ready to go, the infield will be set.

Kevin Youkilis remains at first, reigning A.L. MVP Dustin Pedroia will be at second, Lowell at third and either Jed Lowrie or Julio Lugo at shortstop. Since the Red Sox have not traded Lugo, the two infielders will battle for the starting job this spring. Or Francona can platoon the pair, as he did with outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Coco Crisp last season.

Backup infielders Sean Casey and Alex Cora remain unsigned and their returns remain unlikely, which leaves Boston with a hole or two on the bench.

The outfield is set, with Jason Bay in left, Ellsbury in center and J.D. Drew in right, but the Sox need a backup outfielder who bats right-handed. That apparently will be Rocco Baldelli.

The starting rotation looks like this: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Brad Penny and Tim Wakefield, with Clay Buchholz and Justin Masterson also vying for a spot. The bullpen needs some tweaking, especially the middle-relief corps.

But the Red Sox have depth. Because they have the ability to get immediate help from the farm system, questions at the big-league level are a bit easier to deal with right now.

However, there are still questions to be answered, and Francona will try to provide some answers tonight.

jmcdonal@projo.com