FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Jackie Bradley Jr. told reporters he hasn't been told. Mike Carp told his agent the same thing.

The Red Sox, however, did deliver a message to nonroster outfielder Ryan Sweeney, informing him they were not purchasing his contract.

"I'm the odd man out," said a disappointed Sweeney, finding himself unemployed just two days before the Red Sox break camp in Florida.

Jackie Bradley Jr. had another good day Thursday, singling home one run and scoring two more. AP Photo/Elise Amendola

With Sweeney out, it appears that first baseman-outfielder Carp, an early-March acquisition from Seattle, and rookie Bradley, who opened last year playing Class A ball, will be lining up on the third-base foul line in Yankee Stadium on Monday afternoon when the Sox open the 2013 season against the New York Yankees.

"I want to know before you all," Bradley said with a wide smile to reporters, while claiming he had not been informed of his status. "Do I wait? Do I go home?"

Carp and Bradley are expected to be joined by reliever Clayton Mortensen after the Sox announced they were optioning reliever Daniel Bard to Double-A Portland, a level he hasn't pitched at since 2008, one year before he made it to the big leagues.

Why Portland and not Triple-A Pawtucket for Bard?

"The point of emphasis we made to Daniel was we didn't want him to think if he put up three consecutive scoreless innings or three appearances where he pitched well, he was on his way back to Boston," Sox manager John Farrell said. "We don't see him as a filler on a major league staff. We still see him as a very capable, very good and potentially dominant late-inning reliever. First and foremost is the foundation from which he pitches from, and that's his delivery. And that's the hope [refining his delivery]."

Nothing is official until the Red Sox file their 25-man Opening Day roster with Major League Baseball. They have until noon Sunday to do so. But with DH David Ortiz opening the season on the disabled list, the chance for playing time was there, and Bradley seized it in spectacular fashion.

While the Red Sox held off on making an official announcement, Farrell on Thursday afternoon had an answer for those who would simply lump in Bradley with the many players who put up dazzling numbers in spring training, then are exposed once the season begins.

The staff's high regard for Bradley, Farrell said, goes well beyond the impressive numbers --.441 batting average, .521 on-base average, 26 hits, nine walks, two home runs, 12 RBIs. In Thursday night's 6-1 win over the Twins, Bradley entered as a pinch runner, was on the back end of a double steal, scored and then singled in a run in his only at-bat.