Manny Delcarmen, relieving Jon Lester during the World Series, likes the Sox rotation.

The Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — Red Sox reliever Manny Delcarmen was nervous that Mike Timlin would be working out of another team’s bullpen next season, but after the veteran inked a one-year deal worth a reported $3 million to stay in Boston on Friday, the young right-hander was relieved.

“He took me under his wing,” said Delcarmen. To have him back is going to be “pretty cool.”

Timlin wasn’t the only pitcher Delcarmen was asked about yesterday. With all the talk about the Red Sox possibly acquiring left-hander Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for a variety of prospects, Delcarmen is quite content with the Red Sox team already in place.

“Ever since we won, I’ve said I wouldn’t change the team,” Delcarmen said. “Coco [Crisp] and [Jacoby] Ellsbury can work something out where everybody will get enough playing time, but I wouldn’t change the team. Johan Santana is Johan Santana and if you have a guy like that then you’re just adding another ace. It can go either way.”

Delcarmen hasn’t been told what his role will be in 2008, but he does expect it to be a little bit different. Because lefty Hideki Okajima tired toward the end of the season and even was shut down for a brief period before the postseason, Delcarmen is hoping he and Okajima will be “swapping” more next season in order to cut down on Okajima’s workload.

Delcarmen began his offseason workout regimen three weeks ago and he said he’ll begin to throw early next month in preparation for spring training.

From the mouths of babes

Give a young baseball fan a microphone, an audience and a major-league manager to direct questions to, and you never know what you’re going to hear. During the Sox’ annual Christmas at Fenway celebration yesterday, Kid Nation had an opportunity to ask Red Sox manager Terry Francona some questions about his club and other topics. He handled the kids’ questions just like he handles the local media.

“Their parents sent them to ask those questions,” he quipped after the Q&A.

A little girl sitting on the floor in front of the makeshift stage where Francona, and Fenway Park’s public-address announcer Carl Beane sat, asked the manager whether he thought his team would win the World Series again next season.

“What do you think?” Francona answered. “I hope so.”

A boy dressed in Red Sox attire asked the two-time champion skipper if the team would trade for Santana.

“Is Theo [Epstein]coming up here to answer questions?” Francona wondered. “You should save that one for him. If I answer that, I could get in trouble.”

Another child asked why he wanted to trade rookie sensation Ellsbury.

“Again, ask Theo,” Francona said. “I bet that one came from your parents.”

A little girl asked whether his daughter was a baseball fan and if she got to go to the games. Francona called it the best question and answered that all three of his daughters are fans.

The last question asked was by a little boy who wanted to know who Francona’s favorite player was.

“Whoever is playing better that night,” he said jokingly.

A big no-no in pro baseball is to call a manager “coach.” Francona hears it all the time and it perturbs him to no end, so yesterday all the kids were addressing him as coach and when he was asked about it afterward in a tongue-and-cheek manner, he just smiled and said, “They’re not old enough.”

Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell, bench coach Brad Mills and pitchers Julian Tavarez and Delcarmen also participated in a Q&A with fans. It was an interesting scene and Tavarez even engaged the kids by asking them questions.

Hansen’s sleep apnea

The Journal’s Sean McAdam reported last week from the winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn. that Red Sox pitching prospect Craig Hansen underwent a procedure for sleep apnea. The hard-throwing right-hander spent the 2007 season with the PawSox, where he struggled for most of the season. Pitching coach Farrell said yesterday that last season served as a “much-needed year” for him. Farrell added that with Boston’s staff healthy, Hansen wasn’t needed.

“He can look back and reflect on some of the challenges he had, and some of the successes he had,” Farrell said. “He’s an integral part of our bullpen moving forward, provided he shows some consistency.”

That was something Hansen struggled with tremendously last season, but the Red Sox believe he can still be a dominant reliever at the big-league level.

Farrell said he did not know the exact procedure that Hansen underwent, but partially blamed the sleep apnea for the pitcher’s struggles last summer.

“I have to believe that day-to-day functions, if you’re not getting sound sleep throughout the night, it’s going to cause fatigue,” Farrell said. “The whole intent here is to have it behind him.”

jmcdonal@projo.com