FORT MYERS, Fla. – After watching him distinguish himself for a short stretch last season as well as in spring training, the Boston Red Sox are banking on Kevin Cash.

Cash, a 30-year-old catcher from Tampa, Fla., was informed Thursday that he will be Boston’s new backup catcher and – more importantly – knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher.

The decision to go with Cash and give longtime backup Doug Mirabelli – who was entering his eighth season with Boston and 12th overall – his unconditional release was one of the biggest surprises of spring training thus far.

“It’s not a fun day. It’s tougher on Dougie, but we don’t enjoy those types of meetings. He did a lot of things for us,” said Boston manager Terry Francona. “We just thought that having Kevin in this capacity – he’s proven he can catch Wakefield – put us in the best way to go forward. We have a lot of confidence in his ability.”

Cash played 12 games for the Sox last season, batting .111 with four RBIs in 27 at-bats when Mirabelli was on the disabled list with a calf muscle injury. He started eight games and caught four of Wakefield’s last seven regular season starts. This spring, Cash is hitting .250 in 16 at-bats over seven games. He has a double, a homer and five RBIs in 16 at-bats.

“The staff felt pretty strongly that Cash could do a better job and that led to the tough decision today,” said Boston general manager Theo Epstein. “This was a debate early in camp and it reached a point where, defensively especially, Cash was the backup that would give our team the best chance to win.”

Mirabelli hit .202 with five homers and 16 RBIs in 114 at-bats last season and played in 48 games. This spring, he was hitting .273 with a double and an RBI in 11 at-bats over six games.

“I’m not saying Dougie’s done. I don’t want to say that,” Francona said with obvious emotion. “We made a decision to go this route because we feel as an organization this was the best thing for our ballclub.”

Mirabelli, 37, originally was in the starting lineup Thursday but was removed after meeting with Francona and Epstein.

“He was actually going to play today, but we didn’t think that was the right thing to do so we brought him and told him why we felt that way,” Francona explained.

Wakefield was also immediately told of the team’s decision.

“There’s no denying how special Dougie is with Wake and we talked to him after this also because he’s an important facet of this as well,” Francona said. “Cash has proven he can catch Wakefield.

Timeless Timlin

There are few major league teams that can match the veteran influence on the Red Sox roster, especially when it comes to the pitching staff.

Starting pitcher Curt Schilling is 41 but has averaged 15 wins a season in three years with Boston. Tim Wakefield is also 41 but won 17 games for the Sox last year.

Then there’s righthanded reliever Mike Timlin, who turned 42 on March 10.

Timlin enters his 18th major league season with 1,155 innings and totals of 71 wins, 69 losses and 140 saves.

While other veteran ballplayers his age have gone from contemplating retirement to buying a bass boat or a brand new set of clubs and hitting the open water or golf links, Timlin is still toeing the rubber – effectively.

“That was the one guy who we had concerns about with this early departure [for the regular season-opening trip to Japan], but he’s been ready to go for two weeks,” said Francona. “He obviously worked hard, but I think he’s realized the last couple years he has to stay on his shoulder program because there’s a lot of mileage there.”

Timlin said the key may actually be doing a bit less last offseason.

“It’s an odd thing, but I didn’t throw as much as I normally do,” he said. “My workouts were a little bit offset, so I felt like I really didn’t do enough, but the rigors of spring training, throwing every day, really haven’t been as bad as normal.”

“The only thing I did do was a few more arm exercises, more of them and more on a consistent basis and my shoulder was a lot stronger when I got in.”

The pitcher from Midland, Texas, works out with wife Dawn for two hours daily on days he’s not throwing.

“It’s cardio, lifting, and everything. If I go throw, it’s another hour and a half after that,” he explained. “We have old and new techniques blended into our workouts.”

Timlin, who credits former teammates like Tom Henke, Dave Stieb, Kelly Gruber, Roger Clemens, and two others still pitching (Jamie Moyer and Randy Johnson) for helping instill his work ethic, went through a couple of rough stretches last season, but finished 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA and one save.

“He went through a couple periods where he was getting them out but wasn’t showing his best stuff, but then he started getting a little confident and the ball started coming out of his hand again,” Francona said.

Timlin admits he still marvels at the success he, Schilling and Wakefield still enjoy after a combined 48 major league seasons.

“There are days where we wonder how it’s happening, but it’s happening,” he said with a smile.

Sox spring training shuffle

Mirabelli’s unexpected release wasn’t the only move that reshaped the Red Sox roster Thursday.

Former Portland Sea Dog pitcher Lincoln Holdzkom was re-signed and added to Boston’s 40-man roster after he was offered back to the Red Sox by Philadelphia, which selected him in last December’s Rule 5 Draft.

The 25-year-old righthander was 4-1 with a 3.47 ERA in 30 games with the Sea Dogs and 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 12 games at Pawtucket last season. He became a free agent after being offered back and before signing with Boston.

To make room for Holdzkom, Boston placed Curt Schilling (shoulder) on the 60-day disabled list.

The Sox made five other roster moves, optioning pitcher Devern Hansack and outfielder Jonathan Van Every to Pawtucket and assigning pitchers Lee Gronkiewicz, Michael Tejera and Jon Switzer – who all pitched Wednesday – to their minor league camp.

Walking wounded update

Francona provided his daily injury update on starting pitcher Josh Beckett (pulled/strained back muscle), shortstop Julio Lugo (lower back tightness) and center fielder Coco Crisp (groin muscle tightness) Thursday morning.

. On Crisp:

“Coco had a good day in the cage. I just wanted to visit with him quickly before he tried to do that to see where he was and communicate with him as far as possibilities this week,” Francona said. “We’re not trying to have an artificial time frame and are just trying to do what’s right.

“The next step depends on how he feels physically. He’s gotta feel good to do it and we’ve got to go on his and the medical people’s time frame.”

. Lugo:

“We’ll watch him today and Friday and Saturday we’ll make judgments on where he’s at,” Francona explained. “The hard thing is, say he plays tomorrow, you can’t run him out there for nine innings or for four or five days in a row.”

. Beckett:

“Josh is feeling a little better today. He’s in there getting worked on,” said Francona. “We’re just trying to calm that thing down to where he can come out and play a little catch. He’s not there yet, but he’s getting better.”

“We’re pretty pleased that it didn’t flare up. He was sore because of the workout, and that’s what we were hoping. We’re going to put a harness on Beckett. We’re going to work him, but we’re not going to let him hurt himself.”

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