End of Series will bring a lot of questions
ST. LOUIS -- Now what?
Was winning the World Series truly the last hurrah for franchise players Pedro Martinez and Jason Varitek and more than a dozen teammates, including Derek Lowe and Orlando Cabrera, who are eligible for free agency?
The Sox will face some wrenching decisions in the next 15 days during their exclusive opportunity to negotiate with their potential free agents before they hit the open market. General manager Theo Epstein already re-signed two potential free agents, Trot Nixon and David Ortiz, and traded another, Nomar Garciaparra, to the Cubs in a three-team deal to acquire Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz. But the Sox have yet to tip their hand on how aggressively they plan to pursue Martinez and Varitek after they were unable to find common ground with either in spring training.
This much is clear, according to principal owner John W. Henry: The Sox want to be more than one-hit wonders.
"From the time we bought the team, people have been speculating we were going to blow it up," Henry said. "I think our record speaks for itself. We're going to have a very, very competitive team next year. We're going to do everything we can to win a championship. We don't do this as a hobby."
Martinez, 33, who this season was the highest-paid pitcher ($17.5 million) in baseball history, made clear after his masterly performance in winning Game 3 he would like to stay with the Sox if the price is right.
"I'm just going to do whatever possible to remain here," he said. "If it doesn't work out, I'll go away with respect for the management, for the team, for everybody."
After the clincher, he said, "I'm very relieved that even if I leave tomorrow I'm going to be one of the people to break down the barriers and actually get our names inscribed in the Green Monster."
The other Sox players eligible for free agency include Pokey Reese, Gabe Kapler, Doug Mirabelli, Ellis Burks, Ramiro Mendoza, Curtis Leskanic, and Mike Myers.
The Sox regard Martinez as one of the top pitchers in the game, a future Hall of Famer, but are expected to carefully weigh his age and health. Martinez is expected to seek at least $36 million over three years.
The Sox could acquire a front-line pitcher via the free agent market (Florida's Carl Pavano and Minnesota's Brad Radke rank among the candidates) or a trade. They may also need to replace Lowe since he and the Sox have been widely divided over his value, though he expressed hope his strong performance in the playoffs would improve his chances of staying.
"I've always said I wanted to come back," he said.
Varitek, 32, is likely to renew his talks with the Sox in a stronger position than even Martinez since he is the top catcher on the free agent market and the team does not appear ready to promote its top catching prospect, Kelly Shoppach, from Triple A Pawtucket. If Mirabelli re-signs, he would return as the backup.
The Sox and Varitek did not appear close to an agreement when their talks ended in spring training and the team would need to make a highly enticing offer for Varitek to persuade his agent, Scott Boras, to forgo testing the open market. Varitek's camp believes he could be worth $10 million annually over three or four years.
Cabrera, like Martinez, Varitek, and Lowe, is poised for his first crack at free agency and is expected to explore his options. He earned $6 million this season and is expected to received a significant annual raise over several years. The other shortstops eligible for free agency include Reese, Edgar Renteria of the Cardinals, Omar Vizquel of the Indians, and Cristian Guzman of the Twins.
No dummy
Even though Epstein recalled seeing a book titled something like "Negotiating for Dummies" in Curt Schilling's home office last Thanksgiving when they hammered out his two-year, $25 million extension, Schilling was no fool. He persuaded the Sox to agree to an unprecedented incentive clause: For helping the Sox win the World Series, he will receive a $2 million bonus and his $13 million option for 2007 automatically will be exercised.
Major League Baseball signed off on the contract, then banned similar incentives clauses. When Henry was asked if he regretted approving the deal, he said, "No," and joked, "I didn't know about it until I read about it." "Wow," manager Terry Francona said. "That must have been a heck of a turkey dinner."Hits keep coming Before Manny Ramirez singled in the third inning to tie Yankees Hank Bauer and Derek Jeter for the longest hitting streak in postseason history (17 games), he received the Hank Aaron Award in a pregame ceremony as the American League's best all-around hitter. Barry Bonds was the National League winner. Aaron paid tribute to both players and asked for their autographs for his 5-year-old granddaughter. "I'm very proud to receive this award because Hank Aaron did such a great thing for this game," Ramirez said . . . Tim Wakefield was in the unusual position of appearing in the interview room as the potential Game 5 starter, even though he hoped along with his teammates that they clinched the championship last night. He said Sox fans "can walk with their heads held high, very, very proud of what the Boston Red Sox will accomplish." . . . Francona said he has received congratulatory calls during the postseason from Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli of the Patriots, among others. Henry said he did not hear from his old friend, George Steinbrenner, after the ALCS but received "a very nice note" from Yankee executive Randy Levine . . . When Jason Marquis struck out Varitek in the first inning, it marked the first time two players who reached the Little League World Series faced each other in the Fall Classic.
Great eight
The Sox became the first team to win eight straight postseason games in the same year as they ended the third longest World Series drought at 86 years. The Cubs have gone 96 years without a championship and the White Sox 87 years . . . The Sox became the third straight wild-card team to win the World Series, following the Marlins and Angels. The only other wild-card team to win it all was the '97 Marlins . . . Lowe and a trio of relievers -- Bronson Arroyo, Alan Embree, and Keith Foulke -- combined to pitch the 105th shutout in World Series history, marking the first time in history four pitchers combined on a shutout in the Fall Classic. The shutout was the first for the Sox since Bruce Hurst and Calvin Schiraldi combined to blank the Mets, 1-0, in Game 1 of the '86 Series. It marked the 21st time a Series has been decided with a shutout . . . Sox starters in Games 2, 3, and 4 -- Schilling, Martinez, and Lowe -- combined to pitch 20 innings without giving up an earned run . . . Francona became the seventh manager to guide a team to a world title in his first year.
