FORT MYERS (AP) – Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling and their controversies are gone. The gray hairs on Theo Epstein’s head have started to sprout.

A delayed reaction or a simple coincidence?

“Cumulative,” Boston’s 35-year-old general manager joked Thursday when asked if the color change reflects the stress of the past offseason. “We didn’t have anything that’s outside of the norm for us, just building the club.”

Then he paused, smiled, and said, “Gotta hit Target and get some ‘Just For Men,’ apparently.'”

Manager Terry Francona, bald and sporting salt-and-pepper facial stubble, laughed.

“Tito’s beard doesn’t look too good,” Epstein shot back.

Their mood was light on the first official day of the Red Sox spring training. Past camps have had off-field issues – the mercurial Ramirez once wanted time off to attend a New Jersey car show; the opinionated Schilling had a dispute with management last year over whether to have surgery or just rehabilitate his right shoulder.

For the first time in nine spring trainings, neither star is with the team.

The Red Sox traded Ramirez to Los Angeles last July 31 and he’s an unsigned free agent. Schilling, also a free agent, had surgery June 23 after the rehabilitation preferred by the team didn’t solve his problem, and has considered returning in the second half of the 2009 season.

“Some years there’s some issue that has the potential to become a distraction and you ask us about it and we say it’s not that big a deal – and it’s not that big a deal,” Epstein told reporters Thursday. “Then some years it’s quiet and you say, ‘How great is it to be quiet?’

“These things are sort of surface distractions that give you guys something to talk about. The way Tito runs camp, it never really gets inside the clubhouse, or very rarely does. So, that said, it’s great to have some peace and tranquility on Day 1.”

The makings of another contender, even without Ramirez and Schilling.

The Red Sox have plenty of homegrown talent – AL MVP Dustin Pedroia, third-place MVP finisher Kevin Youkilis, closer Jonathan Papelbon – and didn’t have to dip into the next wave of young talent to add potential stars to their roster.

They signed free agent pitchers John Smoltz and Brad Penny, catcher Josh Bard and outfielder Rocco Baldelli to one-year contracts and added Takashi Saito and Ramon Ramirez to their bullpen.

“If we can build a club and accomplish what we need to accomplish without sacrificing our best young players, we feel like that’s a victory in and of itself,” Epstein said. “We try to focus on building the organization, not just building the 2009 Red Sox.”

Jacoby Ellsbury, the speedster who came up through the system, is the full-time centerfielder now that Coco Crisp has been traded to Kansas City. Justin Masterson, also developed in the organization, had a solid rookie year as a reliever. Whether he’ll keep that role or start should be determined by the end of camp, Epstein said.

“When you have to give up your best young players in trade, you better be getting something pretty good in return because those are the building blocks of an organization,” Epstein said.

The Red Sox also have key players from other organizations – designated hitter David Ortiz, third baseman Mike Lowell and outfielders J.D. Drew and Jason Bay. All play hard and none are clubhouse distractions.