Wells deal likely to wait till spring

David Wells still is expected to be traded, but it is not going to happen until spring training, based upon comments Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein made to San Diego GM Kevin Towers over the weekend.

According to yesterday's San Diego Union-Tribune, Epstein told Towers that he intended to talk to Wells after the Sox report to Fort Myers, Fla., before making any further attempts to deal the veteran lefthander. The Sox have attempted to move Wells to a West Coast team since he asked in November to play closer to his San Diego-area home.

The Sox have shopped Wells to several teams, most based in California, and the club's inability to land fair value for a 15-game winner implies that other teams want to see Wells, who will turn 43 May 20 and is coming off knee surgery, on a mound in Florida before earnestly moving to acquire him.

Still, Epstein's conversation with Towers came as news to Wells's agent, Gregg Clifton, who said his client ''remains optimistic the Sox will honor his request."

''My understanding," Clifton said, ''is we've been assured by the Sox they would do everything they can to move him."

Wells has every intention of reporting to camp, Clifton said. However, if Wells spends much time in Fort Myers, he could be vocal in attempting an exit.

Clifton, when asked about Wells's potential to make life miserable for the club, said, ''David has always been the consummate professional. There's no reason to think he wouldn't be. He's always been a man of his word. He hopes the Sox would be."

Wells is due a base salary of $2.5 million this season, with the chance to make another $5 million in incentives based on starts.

Gonzalez close?

Two sources close to the process have indicated that the Sox continue to make steps toward signing free agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez. Recently, the club checked into Gonzalez's medical records, important given that he underwent a relatively minor arthroscopic procedure on his throwing elbow this offseason. The next step would be for the Venezuelan-born Gonzalez, who turns 29 Feb. 15, to undergo a physical. Gonzalez, according to a major league executive, was initially seeking a deal of at least two years at about $5 million per season. However, he apparently has found the market rather tepid, which suggests the Sox might be able to land him on a one-year deal or for one year with an option at less money than he'd hoped . . . The Sox already have sold more than 2 million tickets, which is 55,000 more than they had sold at this time a year ago, which was a record pace. The total through the weekend: 2,135,540.

Riske checks in

David Riske spoke to Boston writers on a conference call yesterday, and spent most of the time answering questions about his dissatisfying closing month of the 2005 season, despite what was an impressive year overall.

Riske went 3-3 with a 2.81 ERA in 51 appearances through Aug. 31, then 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA in only seven appearances in September/October.

What happened?

''I really don't know," said Riske, the 29-year-old righthander acquired from Cleveland in the Coco Crisp trade. ''Everything was healthy, everything was going great. It was just who they wanted to use.

''I didn't get a lot of repetition. Usually, I pitch a lot in September. That was part of it."

Riske, in his six-year career (all with Cleveland), is 2-2 with a 3.35 ERA in 50 September appearances.

September aside, he did have a remarkable season, finishing fifth in the American League among relievers in WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) at 0.96. He did give up a career-high 11 homers for the second consecutive season but cited ''one bad game where I gave up three or four home runs in one inning."

His most appealing value to the Sox figures to be his ability to face lefties and righties with near-equal success. In 2005, he held lefties to a .213 average, righties to a .204 mark.