FORT MYERS, Fla. — Don't ask Jacoby Ellsbury to set limits on himself. Coming off his first full major league season, the center fielder believes we have just gotten a small taste of what he'll be able to do for the Red Sox.

"I think I can do anything," said Ellsbury. "I don't put a limit on anything. I think Kevin Garnett said 'anything is possible,' so there you go."

After watching Ellsbury hit .353 in 33 games as a call-up in 2007, Red Sox fans began to expect the impossible for the 25-year-old last year. It was a given he would follow in Dustin Pedroia's footsteps as Rookie of the Year. We knew General Manager Theo Epstein would have to trade Coco Crisp to make room for Ellsbury to play every day. He was the new Johnny Damon, the young heartthrob that would take Boston by storm.

Trouble is, he was just a rookie – a rookie with plenty of adjusting to do. Playing 145 games at the big-league level took its toll and by the end of the American League Championship Series, it was Crisp starting in center against the Tampa Bay Rays.

"I worked real hard last season, real hard," said Ellsbury. "I was in very, very good shape, but I don't think I was in necessarily the best baseball shape, in a sense."

Now, Crisp is with the Royals and Ellsbury is expected to be the everyday starter in center. He prepared by spending the winter in the desert sun getting ready for season.

"I had a lot more opportunity to throw and hit in the offseason, and that is helping out a lot," Ellsbury said.

"Being in the warm climate down there in Arizona, being around big-league guys and training with them in the offseason, talking to them when we're working out, that sort of thing helps a lot."

One of the big leaguers he worked out with was Crisp. After spending two years with him in Boston, Ellsbury insists it wasn't strange to work out with the man he replaced as the starter.

"It was just casual talk," Ellsbury said. "He was there for like a week or two. He was traded and then he came later. We have a great relationship.

"We both wished each other the best, hope it goes well."

They agreed it was a win-win situation. Each should play more this year. Ellsbury's development should accelerate now that he's not looking over his shoulder at a guy who might replace him if he struggles.

"Nothing changed," said Ellsbury, "but it shows a lot (about) the trust they have in me in the organization."

Ellsbury's biggest weapon is still his speed. He led the AL with 50 stolen bases last season, third-most in Red Sox history.

Ellsbury joked about someday matching Rickey Henderson's major league record of 130 stolen bases. Just don't ask Ellsbury to predict how many bases he'll steal in 2009. That would be setting limits on himself, something he refuses to do.

"I'm still a young player," Ellsbury said. "You want to come in and get better and continue to improve."

Tom Caron is the studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on the New England Sports Network. His column appears in the Press Herald on Tuesdays.