Clock's ticking on free agents
anyone else nervous here?
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Clock's ticking on free agents
By Michael Silverman
Thursday, November 11, 2004
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - When the clock strikes midnight tonight, the Red Sox [stats, schedule] will have lost their exclusive negotiating rights to all 16 of their free agents.
Barring a last-minute deal that would ``surprise'' a club source, it looks as if all 16 will soon be free to entertain offers from baseball's 29 other teams.
General manager Theo Epstein said the club has not been ``paralyzed'' by uncertainty because of its plethora of free agents. Instead, Epstein and the Red Sox are looking at the offseason as an opportunity.
``This year is no different than any other in that regard,'' Epstein said at the general managers' meetings. ``We have some unanswered questions, but that will work itself out in due time. We are not paralyzed by this process.''
Team owner John Henry said, via e-mail, that he had no plans to become directly involved in any negotiations.
``With the exception of delivering Theo's proposal to Alex Rodriguez last year, I have never been involved in direct negotiation of a contract with a player,'' Henry said. ``I sit in on discussions when players or agents request it, but I have never told a general manager what to do. I actively work on insurance, financial and policy issues. I actively participate in questioning and discussing policies and important contracts. But I have a history of letting others make final personnel decisions and policies.
``I support our policies and trust in the decisions our people make. This has worked very well.''
The Red Sox and Pedro Martinez [stats, news] have been engaged in talks this week, with the pitcher remaining in the Dominican Republic and his agent unavailable for comment the past few days. The club has offered a two-year deal worth a guaranteed $25.5 million with an option year worth $13 million, which Martinez, to no surprise of the Red Sox, turned down. That talks are continuing should be construed as a non-negative development at the very least, with Martinez making public comments from his native country that have reaffirmed his desire to re-sign with the ball club.
As for a backup plan, the Red Sox remain high on two free agents, right-handers Carl Pavano and Brad Radke. Pavano's agent, Scott Shapiro, said he had yet to make contact with the Red Sox at these meetings but a session is expected to take place today or tomorrow. It has become generally well-known that the Marlins have made an initial offer of three years for a total of $21 million, which Pavano has not accepted. Pavano is expected to make at least $8 million to $10 million a year on any deal he signs.
Shapiro has said he has no interest in Pavano signing soon, as he is obviously interested in entertaining bids from other teams. So far, the list of Pavano's suitors includes the Marlins, Red Sox, Yankees, Phillies, Tigers, Mariners, Orioles, Indians, Diamondbacks and probably the Reds. The agent plans to have Pavano make a tour of interested cities, a ``Carlapalooza'' tour, as Shapiro put it, especially to locales where Pavano has never been before, like Seattle.
Boston and New York will be on Pavano's itinerary, Shapiro said.
Radke's agent did not return phone calls.
The day after catcher Jason Varitek [stats, news]'s agent, Scott Boras, went public on his five-year, no-trade request, the Red Sox and Boras spoke, although whether it was face-to-face here at the Ritz-Carlton or over the phone, Epstein would not say.
Boras claimed on Tuesday that former Padres owner Larry Lucchino had offered Kevin Brown a no-trade clause but that apparently was not quite true, according to a club source.
Epstein said only, ``I'm not going to engage in a public debate but it's always important to fact check.''
