Red Sox are hoping they can close on Foulke

The free agent reliever is a hockey fan, a regular at Phoenix Coyotes games, according to his agent, Dan Horwits. Whether or not he soon will be showing up again at the FleetCenter remains in question, though the Sox are pushing forward in their efforts to persuade Foulke that there is a place for him in Boston.

"Nothing is imminent tonight or tomorrow," said Horwits, who spoke more than once with Epstein yesterday.

"Theo and I are talking parameters," said Horwits. "We've got to see where Keith wants to be and the Red Sox want to be. We're getting closer to some kind of conclusion. Keith certainly enjoyed himself in Boston."

Sunday is the deadline for a team to offer its own free agents salary arbitration. If a team doesn't offer arbitration, it loses the right to negotiate with that player until May 1, and any team that signs the free agent will not have to surrender draft picks as compensation. Sunday's deadline will not come into play in Foulke's case, Horwits said. His 2002 employer, the Oakland A's, will offer arbitration, but the clubs interested in signing the American League saves leader last season, including the Sox, are prepared to lose draft picks to get him.

Foulke must decide whether to leave the A's, who were still expressing hope last week that he would stay, or take what almost certainly will be a larger financial offer from the Sox, though reports that Boston would be willing to add a fourth year to a reported three-year offer would represent an about-face in the approach Epstein pledged to take when he became GM. Epstein made it clear he was opposed to long-term deals that would rob a club of payroll flexibility.

The Sox almost certainly won't make a move with Foulke in the next several days. They may need some time to create some payroll relief, as new addition Curt Schilling's signing has them creeping uncomfortably close to the luxury tax threshold.

Foulke, like Schilling, has a pre-existing relationship with Terry Francona, who will be named manager of the Sox as soon as tomorrow and no later than Thursday. Schilling played for Francona when he managed the Phillies. Francona was bench coach of the A's this past season. It's doubtful that Francona's presence in the Sox dugout will be as great a factor in Foulke's decision as it was for Schilling. . . .

Joe Maddon, the Angels bench coach who made such a favorable impression during his managerial interview with the Sox, said yesterday that he had not heard from them since the start of the Schilling negotiations. There have been indications that Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, who returns from the West Coast today, intends to have another conversation with Maddon, but it seems more likely than ever that it will be to inform him that Francona has been hired. "You're probably right," Maddon said yesterday. "I'm not stupid, but I'm not a crybaby, either. It would be difficult for anybody to get their first managing job in a situation that has the magnitude of Boston's. But what an experience, just to have gone through this process. It was great." Maddon, whose only previous big-league managing experience was on an interim basis with the Angels, should profit just from having been on the Sox' short list. . . .

Season-ticket sales already have spiked since the Sox acquired Schilling last Friday, according to Dr. Charles Steinberg, the Sox executive vice president/public affairs. "We've sold over 100 equivalent full-season tickets since acquiring him, plus another 79 before that, since the rumors he was coming started," Steinberg said . . . Pedro Martinez, in an interview with the Associated Press in his native Dominican Republic, reiterated his approval of the Schilling deal, and his willingness to negotiate an extension with the Sox. "For me it would be a pleasure to negotiate with Boston," Martinez was quoted as saying. "In baseball there are no guarantees, but obviously we are a better team with Schilling. Boston has the option of negotiating with me. It's something that I will leave up to them, but if it doesn't happen I will go into my last season and I'll do my job." The Sox picked up a $17.5 million option for 2004 on Martinez's contract this past spring . . . A's manager Ken Macha, who was denied permission to interview for the Sox job before Grady Little was hired before the 2002 season, now stands to lose his bench coach (and possibly his closer) to the Sox. Macha has known Francona since their days in Montreal, when Macha was a coach and Francona a player. "He did great," Macha said of the year in which Francona served on his Oakland staff. "He has a great attitude, upbeat, positive, with a lot of energy. And we were friends. We went out to dinner a lot, and he was a big help before and after games."