The veteran first baseman knows his future depends partly on outside factors.
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Lyle Overbay is optimistic about making the Boston Red Sox roster, but he is not delusional.
"I had a feeling for what the offseason would be. I knew I wasn't an A or B free agent, or maybe even a C or D,'' said the modest veteran first baseman, who went unsigned until Boston ponied up a minor-league deal Jan. 13.
"I knew it would be a matter of time. The Red Sox gave me a minor-league deal, so they're not locked in.
"They might do something like a trade if the right one came up. I totally understand.''
The backup first-base job in Boston might not seem like headline news, but someday, it could be.
The starter is Mike Napoli, a converted catcher whose degenerative hip condition caused the club to scale down an initial three-year deal to one season. Napoli and the club think the condition is under control, and it has not worsened, but neither has it gone away.
Enter Overbay, 36, who has been in the majors since 2001. He has 133 career home runs, and averaged 17 per year from 2004 through 2010.
If the Red Sox don't swing a deal, he will compete with Mauro Gomez to back up Napoli at first.
Overbay's advantages over Gomez are experience and a huge edge defensively. He also hits left-handed, a desirable option since Napoli hits right-handed.
None of this guarantees a spot for a player whose last strong year was in 2010, when he hit 20 home runs for the Toronto Blue Jays.
"It's a good fit for me here to try to make the club and win a championship. I think this team is very underrated,'' Overbay said.
Boston's interest in Overbay rose when concerns surfaced over Napoli's hip. Overbay has learned to accept a reduced role in the past few years, but this is the first time in a decade his first task is to win a roster spot.
He's a known quantity, which helps, but he has to convince the Red Sox he still has some productive baseball left.
"It's different. I just have to prepare to be ready for the season,'' he said.
"If I have a great spring, that's great. But one year, I had a great spring and then had a terrible season.''
Overbay said that was because he was too aggressive, attacking the pitches instead of "sitting back'' on the offspeed offerings.
He pledges not to repeat the mistake, even with so much at stake.
"It's a fine line" between trying and trying too hard, he said.
Defensively, Overbay is well above average. The same cannot be said for Napoli, who took 50 ground balls after batting practice Sunday.
That workload will be gradually increased, and Red Sox manager John Farrell said the club expects Napoli's glovework to be more than sufficient this year.
Farrell would like to look at Overbay in left field, a position this veteran of 1,222 games has never played. If he can be used in two positions and not just one, even as a backup, Overbay's chances of making the team improve significantly.
Last year, Overbay signed a one-year deal with Arizona but was released in midseason before finishing the year with Atlanta. He likes what he sees in the Red Sox clubhouse.
Now his task is to become part of it, even as he knows that will depend not just on how he plays this spring, but on what happens with other players in camp and on the trade front.
"It's a fun group,'' he said. "There are not just a lot of good guys but a lot of good players who know how to have fun, but also know when it's time to work."