For Clement, sticking with Sox is a big deal

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Beware the ides of March?

No reason to drop Shakespeare in the conversation, and besides, it has never been the middle of the month that has wreaked havoc in Matt Clement's life. In back-to-back years, 2001 and 2002, Clement was traded on the last day of spring training, at the end of March.

So if the Red Sox are still entertaining thoughts of trading the 31-year-old pitcher, as they showed a willingness -- if not eagerness -- to do this winter, Clement would prefer that it happen sooner than later.

''Hopefully, if they're going to trade me, it's tomorrow, not the last day of camp," he said yesterday, ''especially since I've got two little ones."

His desire, he emphasized, is to stay exactly where he is, but with the Sox having seven starting pitchers in camp and to this point unable to satisfy David Wells's trade request, Clement understands that he could be on the move again, though he professes not to be worried about it. Indeed, he insisted he was unaware of all the times his name surfaced in trade talks this winter, including the one deal that may have come closest to happening, in which he would have gone to Milwaukee for first baseman Lyle Overbay. But because the Sox wouldn't pick up any of the $19 million Clement has on his contract, the Brewers traded Overbay to the Blue Jays instead.

''They're trying to trade Boomer, but if they can't trade Boomer, they may have to trade me," he said. ''I think my chances of getting traded went down once we got Gonzo [Alex Gonzalez] and Coco [Crisp], because I thought we might need to trade a starter because we needed to fill holes. I think [those acquisitions] lowered it. We'll see."

The other wild card in whether he stays or goes, he figures, is Manny Ramírez, another player who asked the Red Sox to ship him elsewhere.

''A lot of stuff going on with us has got to hinge on Manny, what's going on with him," Clement said. ''Obviously if your name is in trade rumors, if I'm putting this together from what you [media] are saying, we're both in trade rumors. We could both be going somewhere at the same time. I guess it's not going to be easy to trade Manny, and not because of his skills. I hope they don't, if I'm here. If I go, I hope he goes with me."

That Clement would have to contemplate another change of address was inconceivable midway through last season, when he sported a 10-2 record and 3.85 ERA and was a late addition to the American League All-Star team. But the numbers did not hold up in the second half, when he went 3-4 with a 5.72 ERA, including 1-3 with a 6.00 ERA in September, then had the wheels come off in his Game 1 start against the White Sox in the Division Series.

Clement hit two of the first three batters he faced, gave up three home runs, and was gone after just 3 1/3 innings and a yield of eight earned runs, most ever allowed by a Sox pitcher in the postseason.

''To me, that's something you erase from your mind," Clement said. ''I try to be consistent. It was a bad game. There were about 95 things that went wrong in that game, from my end. You take it like a man. You got beat. You didn't do your job that day. The next time you go out, be prepared."

There most likely would not have been a next time against the White Sox, who rendered the point moot by sweeping Boston. But had the series gone the distance, David Wells likely would have pitched a deciding Game 5, with Clement in the bullpen.

Asked how he accounted for the falloff in his performance, Clement did not point to that horrifying moment in Tropicana Field last July 26 when a line drive by Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford struck him in the head, and he was taken off the field on a stretcher.

''After I recovered and got back on my feet, I had a good stretch of about five or six starts in there," he said. ''The thing I strive for is to be as consistent as possible. I probably was as consistent as I've ever been my whole life in the first half, and the second half, I just had an inconsistent four or five starts in there that were just awful, so that makes everything skewed.

''I don't use excuses and I'm not going to use my head as an excuse. It was a blow. It was something that slowed me down. I do a lot of running in between starts. I went from running 20 poles [foul pole to foul pole] to three days later, I couldn't run a sprint. It took a lot out of me, I guess, my stamina. I was able to gain that back over time. I don't use that as an excuse, but that was obviously a traumatic experience."

One with lingering effects?

''I don't know if I'll ever completely get over it," he said. ''I don't have trouble with it. The only time I think about it is when someone says it to me.

''I don't have a choice. If I let that affect the way I'm going to pitch, it's going to be a negative effect. I have to be strong enough. Something scary like that, it's like a car accident. You're not going to ever clear it completely from your mind but you're still going to get in the car."

Clement had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee after the season, the procedure performed by the Pittsburgh Penguins team physician, Charles Burke, though he debated whether it was necessary, since in his view it did not affect his pitching.

''I had a meniscus tear," he said, referring to the cartilage in the knee. ''I had a flap that was hanging. It would flip in and out. When it would flip out, my knee would lock up, then my knee would swell up."

He resumed baseball activities just 5 1/2 weeks after the surgery, beating his doctor's projection by 2 1/2 weeks, and acknowledges that the operation was the right thing to do. The leg feels normal again.

For now, he understands, there are people who will judge him solely by his last start.

''I don't define my season by that," he said. ''I think I accomplished a lot last year. The bottom line is, the last start was a bad one and that's the last thing people remember."

Whether that will be in Boston or somewhere else remains to be seen. The two times he was traded, Clement brought back value each time. When the Padres traded him to the Marlins in 2001, they got center fielder Mark Kotsay in return. A year later, the Marlins moved him to the Cubs for reliever Julian Tavarez (now with the Sox) and a minor leaguer named Dontrelle Willis.

''I don't put too much stock in rumors," he said. ''I've gotten traded twice in my life. The first time I was in San Diego and heard nothing about it, and the second time I was in Florida. I thought I was going to be traded, then everything calmed down, everything was set, and I got traded again out of the blue.

''It's not something I worry about. In the past I worried about it, when I was younger. Anyone that takes on my contract, it's not going to be a bad team. It's going to be a team that can spend some money and has a chance to win. So that's the way I look at it right now, as long as I have a chance to win.

''Obviously I want to be here and be a part of this, but you don't always get what you want."