Likely many of this rank could soon be filing
The championship euphoria has hardly abated. However it's never too early to start thinking about free agency. Not so much who's coming, but which Red Sox may not be around to bask in the Fenway love when the 2004 World Series flag is raised in April.
Seventeen players on the current roster have until Nov. 11 to file for free agency, most notably righthanders Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe, shortstop Orlando Cabrera, and catcher Jason Varitek. Third baseman Bill Mueller and reliever Curtis Leskanic hold player options for 2005.
The only player to file thus far is outfielder Gabe Kapler. Others who will decide soon are pitchers Terry Adams, Pedro Astacio, Ramiro Mendoza, Mike Myers, and Scott Williamson; catcher Doug Mirabelli; infielders Dave McCarty, Ricky Gutierrez, and Pokey Reese; and designated hitter Ellis Burks.
The Sox have until Dec. 7 to offer salary arbitration to their former players who became free agents. Those players have until Dec. 19 to accept or reject the offers. The following day is the deadline for teams to offer 2005 contracts to unsigned players.
Exhibition of games
No sooner did Varitek leap into Keith Foulke's arms after the final out of the World Series than Jeff Idelson of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum knocked on the clubhouse door seeking to commemorate the historic triumph. Notable among the artifacts that soon will be displayed in an exhibit titled "Autumn Glory: A Postseason Celebration," are the jersey Lowe wore to win Game 4 and become the first pitcher to win three clinching games in one postseason; the glove used by Cabrera throughout the postseason, when he did not commit an error; the cap Martinez wore in winning Game 3; the spikes Foulke wore while recording the final outs in each of the four games in the Series; the spikes Curt Schilling wore in Game 2, in which his ankle was sutured to protect a torn sheath around his peroneal tendon; the bat Series MVP Manny Ramirez used in Game 4 to tie the record for the longest postseason hitting streak (17 games); the bat Johnny Damon used to homer in Game 4, as well as his cap; and dirt from the field at Busch Stadium. The artifacts will remain on display through next year's World Series . . . After his team won the World Series, where did Schilling wind up? Disney World, of course. The righthander took part in a parade yesterday in Orlando, Fla.
