Is ownership playing hardball?

ARLINGTON, Texas -- If you're a professional athlete there's probably never a good time to air contract matters in public. But especially not now. Not when your team is 15-6 and going places.

Pedro Martinez might be viewed in a negative light by Red Sox Nation this morning. Maybe in a selfish light. Last night's declaration that he would become a free agent after the season and no longer discuss a contract extension with the Red Sox wasn't as dramatic as Ty Law's recent salvos at the Patriots, because Law had an offer he felt was beneath him.

In some ways this might have been worse. Martinez did not have any offer.

While Martinez said he will allow the Red Sox to compete for him like everyone else, the star righthander, who is scheduled to pitch the second game of today's twinight doubleheader against the Rangers, is finding out the Sox might want to move on.

The signs are clear: The Sox had one meeting with Martinez in spring training, placed a few calls to his agent, and then have let it go. Perhaps they have been concerned about his reduced velocity. Perhaps they don't want to deal with the periodic outbursts of the past two seasons. Martinez wants to stay in Boston and has told the Red Sox he would take less than the $17.5 million he is making this year.

Martinez said he won't accept a large decrease in salary, but would ask for what he believes is fair. Which is why he doesn't understand the team's lack of action.

Martinez has not been speaking to the media after his starts, or on the record about his contract situation because he had promised the Red Sox he wouldn't. He was waiting, he said, for Sox owner John W. Henry to check into insurance matters, but Henry took too long for Martinez's liking.

By yesterday it had become clear to Martinez and his agent, Fernando Cuza, who returns calls only to media outlets sympathetic to Martinez's situation, that a deal wasn't going to get done any time soon. It had obviously been weighing heavily on Martinez's mind. Cuza called the Sox to inform them he was done speaking to them.

With his feelings known, Martinez believes he can completely concentrate again on pitching. He said he would still be "proud" to help win a World Series for Boston and its fans. He said if the Sox do not sign him he wants to prove them wrong, and he'll do it for any team, whether it be the Yankees, Mets, or even the Dodgers, the team that got rid of him as a young player, because the ownership and management in LA has changed.

The Red Sox are taking a hard-line approach with their free agents and it could be turning off the players. Martinez mentioned Jason Varitek, Derek Lowe, and Nomar Garciaparra as the other scheduled big-name Sox free agents who have heard little from ownership. While Martinez referenced Varitek, Lowe, and Garciaparra, they have not said much about their contract situations. But one wonders if they feel the same way Martinez does.

The Red Sox have decided to go for it this season with a $125 million payroll. They are banking on the adage that a hungry player is a productive player. Whether they should win it all or not get to the World Series, they could be planning to let the Big Four go and replace them with cheaper players.

Martinez did insinuate that Henry and team president Larry Lucchino aided in tearing down the Marlins and Orioles, respectively, when in fact is was then-owner Wayne Huizenga who dissolved the first championship team in Miami, not Henry, and owner Peter Angelos who trimmed payroll in Baltimore.

Was Martinez speaking for himself or for all four of the Sox' top would-be free agents? Obviously the four have talked. Will this be a rallying cry for them? Will they give it all they have and then walk off into the sunset? Or will this become a huge distraction as the season unfolds, bringing down a team that should otherwise flourish?

Martinez did ask reporters, after he said his piece, to respect his wishes of not asking questions pertaining to his contract for the rest of the season. If he thinks only about baseball, and if the other would-be free agents do the same, the Sox should be OK. If the issues are aired in public, what should have been a season to remember could quickly become one to forget.

That's the chance Sox ownership took when they took this approach. And now they must live with the consequences -- good or bad.