http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=17281 ARLINGTON, Texas - Every team in the majors, including the Yankees, will get a crack at signing free-agent-to-be Pedro Martinez [stats, news] next year after the Red Sox [stats, schedule] ace halted negotiations with the team yesterday. It's over with... Pedro Martinez Martinez told the Boston Herald he would pursue free agency at the end of this season after never receiving a long-term contract extension offer from the ballclub this winter and spring. Having already extended his own deadline for calling off talks by a month, Martinez had his agent Fernando Cuza notify general manager Theo Epstein and team president and CEO Larry Lucchino yesterday that Martinez would no longer speak with the ballclub this season. Martinez' decision does not rule out him signing a new deal with Boston, since the Red Sox will retain exclusive negotiating rights after the World Series. However, Martinez will now allow that negotiating period to lapse and then entertain talks with other teams. ``I'm just really sad for the fans in New England who had high hopes that at this time I could say, truly, that I was going to stay in Boston, but now they're going to have to compete with the rest of the league,'' Martinez said before last night's game. With the Sox off to such a good start and Martinez showing signs of regaining his dominance, he said his status would not become a distraction to the ballclub. ``It's not going to be (a distraction) because I'm not going to allow it,'' said Martinez, who will start tonight against the Rangers. ``It's over with and I'm just going to continue to play baseball like I would normally do. ``I was just wasting time, having something else on my mind. So now I get rid of one and concentrate on baseball and that's it.'' Epstein echoed his standard answer whenever the topic of contract discussions with players have come up this spring, which has been often. ``No comment,'' Epstein said from his Fenway Park office. ``I don't think anything productive can come about if our deliberations with our players are played out in public.'' By never moving aggressively enough to suit Martinez, the Red Sox are obviously willing to take the gamble of having Martinez finish out the season and then assess how his health and performance should be used to gauge his worth. With the ballclub firmly believing that players' salaries are on a downward trend, the team was not willing to make a preemptive strike at establishing Martinez' price now. Martinez, who is making $17.5 million this season and acknowledged over the winter that he would probably have to take a paycut, said he did not have any disappointment or ill will toward the team. ``It's just business,'' he said. Martinez paused when asked to assess his chances of staying with the Sox next year and beyond. ``I don't know - I'm going to have to wait and see,'' he said. ``I gave them every single chance I could. ``That's from the bottom of my heart. The fans in Boston, I know they don't understand what's going on, but I really mean it from my heart - I gave them every opportunity, every discount I could give them to actually stay in Boston and they never took advantage of it. Didn't even give me an offer.'' In late March, Martinez had a productive meeting with Epstein, Lucchino and team owner John Henry at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. At that meeting, according to Martinez, Henry told his ace that he needed some more time in order to investigate assorted insurance policies the team wanted in order to protect itself in case Martinez, who sustained a small tear in his rotator cuff in the summer of 2001, broke down. Martinez, who said over the winter that he would declare free agency at the start of the regular season if he had no new deal in place, agreed to extend the deadline. ``They never gave me one number, never gave me anything,'' Martinez said. ``They said, `We're going to try with the insurance company, we're going to try whatever. Mr. Henry said he was going to talk to the insurance companies and stuff like that, and I waited longer, one more month after the season began. But no, sorry, didn't work out to this point and we're going to see what we can do next year.'' Cuza said there had been some talks since the meetings in Fort Myers. ``I think we're both in agreement that we're not going to get anything done,'' Cuza said. ``We are going to wait until after the season to talk again. Pedro doesn't want to be distracted any more and so at this point, we will just wait to talk.'' Cuza said Martinez would certainly speak with the Red Sox in November. ``We're definitely going to talk to them then, but our plans are to file for free agency and go from there,'' Cuza said. ``We will listen to them but he is going to file. We are going to explore the free-agent market.'' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Assuming he has a productive season, go get 'em Boss.
you mean the Senators?? actually...could you imagine the fallout in beantown if they don't win it all this year after losing a-rod to the yanks in the offseason...and then end up losing pedro to the yanks?? seriously...the suicide watch in new england would be ON
Pedro has always had a chip on his shoulder. F*ck him. And if he wants to drain the Yankees spending for other areas of need, then that is fine with me. Maybe they (epstein, henry, etc) will grow a sack and now sign varitek, lowe, and nomar.
Manny -- I'm a sox fan, too. they're not my first love, to be sure...that's reserved for the 'stros. But the sox are far and away the only other team i actually root for...actually follow on a daily basis. 1. Pedro may have a chip...and i'd agree with that...but he's also been one of the best starters in baseball for quite some time...MAYBE the best of his era. When he was at his best, he was ridiculously better than other starters in the league. 2. The Yanks' need right now is starting pitching...they're set virtually everywhere else. Getting Pedro would be huge for them. 3. The Yanks aren't concerned with draining resources. They just spend. 4. And as much as I'd hate it....Yanks fans would be rubbing that in for YEARS! YANKEES SUCK!! By the way...a close friend of mine just got back from Boston and brought me a new shirt that has WWJDD on the front in Red Sox script...and on the back it says, "What Would Johnny Damon Do?" classic!!!
Max, Someone on ESPN, either Gammons or Jayson Stark talked about the possibility of Pedro signing with the Yankees. They said that if the MFYs sign him, they pretty much can't go after anyone else because of all the huge contracts they already have like ARod, Jeter, Giambi, Brown, etc. However, that hasn't really stopped SiaS before but I think he would have to do quite a bit of rearranging of players to do that. There is such a thing called chemistry in baseball and the MFYs are finding that out right now. Granted, we have just played one month and things may change very easily, but the Sox have better chemistry than the MFYs not to mention a 5-1 record against them, not to mention they have been doing this without 2 of their best offensive players in Nomar and Trot Nixon. No one right now wants to face their pen and the rotation is looking pretty nicely as well (B.K. Kim as a #5 starter could probably be a #2 starter anywhere else). MFYs fans are always going to rub stuff in that is why they root for that POS team. But if the Sox win it this year, that stuff will go away for the most part.
you're absolutely right...they've assembled an all-star team that isn't playing so hot...let's hope it stays that way. i edited my message to add in the thing about the wwjdd shirt...did you see that? have you seen those?
Haven't really seen the shirts, but I have read about fans dressing up with beards and long wigs and calling themselves, "Damon's Disciples". As long as he is able to do what he has been doing in helping the Sox win games, I think it is fun. But when he goes into a horrific slump, he better shave and get a haircut!
dream casting, pedro takes a paycut to come here, clemens decides to stick around another year after winning 20 games and winning nl cy young. oswalt, pedro, pettite, clemens, miller. the greatest starting rotation in the history of the league.
That would be 10 times worse than when Clemens went to the Yankees. What the hell is he thinking? What are the BoSox thinking? Give him the money! Who else ya gonna get?? It's a joke that the pathetic Yankees are even mentioned having a chance to get Pedro.
pedro makes way too much money for way too few innings anyway. he's not the dominator he used to be, and signing him to big bucks is just plain risky. i mean there are guys out there like tim hudson who is at the same level and make much much less. and he likes to burn bridges too... always dissing the management and stuff. you need varitek, maybe lowe, not necessarily nomar... his production is overrated. i mean a couple of seasons ago there was a difference between Nomar and Edgar Renteria... now not so much. meanwhile, your boy manny has a better attitude these days. watched an interview on a local channel with him and millar. manny was joking that 160 mil don't last these days like it used to. and when he takes millar out to dinner it'd have to be taco bell.
But, invariably, Pedro is the answer to the question "If you could have one pitcher for one game, who would it be?" This is what sets him apart. When you assemble a team that is virtually assured a playoff spot (Sox), you can go a long way with a Pedro. Hudson and Halladay aren't valuble in the same way.
I don't know about discounting Halladay like that. The guy sure seemed to get stronger as the season went on last year. He had a string of complete games in September if I'm not mistaken.
Pedro runs his mouth on Friday then on Saturday... ARLINGTON, Texas -- Pedro Martinez had his shortest outing of the season for Boston, giving up six runs in four innings, and the Texas Rangers won 8-5 to complete a sweep in the doubleheader matching division leaders.
Pedro really proved something to Theo and company last night, didn't he? Punk needs to keep his trap shut!
Looks like that isn't going to happen any time soon. Los Angeles newspapers are already giddy about the possibility of Pedro Martinez returning to the Dodgers. Pedro on the matter: "The Dodgers don't have the same people that were there when I was mistreated. I'm open to anybody, just as I am open to anybody in the future." Los Angeles, with it's warm weather and ballpark, is a good fit should Pedro decide to leave Boston after this season. " Man that dude sure is a whiny b****.
It's not just this one instance of him whining about being mistreated. He's been a damn cry baby for years. The guy has gone on to have a great career and he continues to b**** about being traded. Check out this article from almost 5 fricking years ago. http://www.s-t.com/daily/08-99/08-08-99/d03sp174.htm Waaaaahhhh. Cry me a river, Pedro.
