Getting lefty Fossum right thing for Arizona
Joe Garagiola Jr. could only laugh when asked if he was crossing his fingers and saying a prayer that the Red Sox could persuade Curt Schilling to accept a trade to Boston yesterday.
"Really, once we had agreed to the deal and agreed to the players, there wasn't much that we could do," acknowledged Garagiola, the senior vice president and general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. "At that point, the Red Sox and Curt had to work things out. We were watching and waiting just like everyone else to see how this thing would unfold, and I have to say the Red Sox did a terrific job convincing Curt to go there."
It's never easy to part with a player of Schilling's talent, a pitcher who helped lead Arizona to a World Series Championship in 2001, but the Diamondbacks needed to get younger, cheaper players. They wanted lefthanded pitching because "that's a huge commodity in our division. If it isn't Barry Bonds, then it's Todd Helton, then it's Brian Giles. Lefthanded pitching is very important to us and we feel that we got a top young lefty in Casey Fossum with an excellent curveball that should be an important addition for us in our division."
Garagiola, said it was the Red Sox, not the Diamondbacks, who asked for the extension on the negotiations.
He said he spoke to Fossum yesterday to ask how the rehabilitation on his left shoulder was going. The Diamondbacks were convinced that Fossum should be ready to go right out of the gate in spring training.
"It's a great opportunity for me," Fossum said. "The Diamondbacks drafted me out of high school and now they've traded for me. It's nice to be wanted by a team and hopefully I can go in there and hold up my end."
Garagiola, who has now made two major deals with Theo Epstein, last May sending Byung Hyun Kim to the Sox for Shea Hillenbrand, said of his talks with Epstein, "I've enjoyed them thoroughly. I've enjoyed doing business with Theo. I never really knew Theo before this year, but he's very bright and very passionate about his ball team."
Garagiola was obviously aware that Schilling's wish list included New York and Philadelphia, and that originally Boston was not among the teams the righthander agreed to waive his no-trade clause for. Which is why Epstein and Larry Lucchino had to do some recruiting to sign him to the two-year extension worth almost $26 million.
"Curt thrives on challenges," Garagiola said. "I think part of the challenge for Theo was convincing Curt he could do for the Red Sox what he did for us, lead them to a championship. Whatever issue there were, the Red Sox did a great job of easing Curt's mind. Boston is a traditional place, where baseball is very important and I think Curt wanted to get to that kind of environment to finish out his career. Boston has a very good team and Curt makes them that much sounder in their pitching depth."
Garagiola said the Diamondbacks have big plans for Brandon Lyon out of the bullpen, and feel that Jorge de la Rosa, another former Diamondbacks draftee, can be a top pitcher. Garagiola would not discuss the fourth player in the deal, which has been reported to be outfielder Mike Goss, because he is technically the player to be named later.
"You can't help but have mixed emotions about dealing someone of Curt Schilling's resume," Garagiola said. "We feel we got a good return of younger players that can help our team now and in the future. We're never going to forget what Curt Schilling for our franchise. He was a true professional for our franchise, who took the ball and pitched at the highest level you could hope for."
Fossum heads out of town a year after the Red Sox refused to include him in any talks for Bartolo Colon. The lanky lefthander gave Boston hope it could develop a star pitcher from its own farm system. But Fossum, 6-5 with a 5.47 ERA in 19 games, including 14 starts, struggled most of the year.
"I'll always be grateful to the Red Sox. They gave me a chance and I made a lot of friends over there," said Fossum who was a seventh-round pick for the Diamondbacks in 1996 before deciding to pitch at Texas A&M.
The Red Sox certainly don't appear to be done. They're still in the hunt for closer Keith Foulke, who visited with the Sox last week. Foulke continues to ponder his options, including staying in Oakland. The Red Sox are one of four teams in the hunt for Foulke's services, but Boston remains the only team he has visited. The Mets are also said to have high appeal for Foulke because that's where former A's pitching coach Rick Peterson now works.
The Sox, according to Foulke's agent, Dan Horwits are "very much in the picture. Keith enjoyed his visit to Boston and came away with a very positive outlook of the Red Sox."
