Red Sox hit jackpot, land Schilling
Boston signs Arizona ace to $25.5m deal
Shifting the balance of power in their century-old rivalry with the Yankees, the Red Sox last night struck a pivotal deal with Arizona's prized righthander, Curt Schilling, that figures to make Boston's starting rotation one of the most feared in baseball. The move occurs amid a sweeping effort by Sox ownership to end the franchise's 85-year championship famine after a devastating loss to the Yankees last month in the struggle for a World Series berth.
Schilling, a five-time All-Star widely ranked among baseball's most dominant pitchers, ended three days of negotiations with Sox officials at his home in Paradise Valley, Ariz., by agreeing to waive a no-trade clause in exchange for a two-year, $25.5-million contract extension for 2005 and '06 with a $13 million mutual option to remain with the team in '07. He is due to earn $12 million next season as he completes a $32-million extension he signed with Arizona before he helped lead the Diamondbacks past the Yankees in the 2001 World Series.
"I just know that I am looking forward to having a ball in my hand whether it be Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium and pitching in that first game as a Red Sox against the Yankees," Schilling said in a news conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.
