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The Red Sox didn’t make any major moves at the winter meetings to keep up with the Yankees’ addition of Curtis Granderson, but Boston did add three pitchers this week, trading a player to be named to the Twins for righthander Boof Bonser, signing lefty Fabio Castro and claiming righty Ramon Ramirez off waivers from the Rays.

If you’re wondering how the Red Sox claimed Ramon Ramirez off waivers when they already have Ramon Ramirez, that’s because this is a different Ramon Ramirez, the Ramon Ramirez who earlier this offseason went from the Reds to the Rays on waivers. That’s a lot of R’s, not to mention a lot of Ramon Ramirezes. The Ramon Ramirezes are about the same size — the new one is 6-0, 190 pounds, the old one is 5-11, 190 pounds — were born just over a year apart (9/16/82 and 8/31/81) and are both righthanded. The Red Sox are officially listing the new Ramon Ramirez, who has 29 strikeout sin 39.1 innings in the majors over the last two years, as “Ramon A. Ramirez.” That’ll take care of everything.

Speaking of names, I was shocked that when I typed in “Boof” on Baseball-Reference, it didn’t go right to Bonser’s page — it gave me the option to find out about Jake Boofer, who played one game in the outfield for Tyler (Texas) of the Class C Dixie League in 1933. He went 1-for-4.

Boofer played in as many games in 2009 as Boof, which is to say zero. Bonser had shoulder surgery in February, and was designated for assignment by the Twins after Carl Pavano accepted arbitration on Monday. After going 7-6 with a 4.22 ERA in 18 starts as a rookie in 2006, and earning a start in the playoffs against the A’s that year, Bonser struggled in 2007 and 2008, going a combined 11-19 with a 5.44 ERA as he lost his job in the starting rotation.

Castro last pitched in the majors in 2007, when he had a 6.00 ERA in 10 games for the Phillies, including one start. Since then, he’s been part of the deal that landed Matt Stairs in Philadelphia, and spent this year between Double-A and Triple-A in the Blue Jays’ system, starting 29 games this year as he went 9-6 with a 4.01 ERA, 105 strikeouts and 67 walks in 164 innings. He should be just as important to the Red Sox this year as Fabio and Castro.

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