Schilling believes team will spare no expense in '07

BALTIMORE -- Red Sox ace Curt Schilling, who has never been shy about suggesting he has a direct pipeline to management, said he expects the Sox will not be bound by luxury-tax constraints when they address needs this winter.

Schilling, who threw a simulated game indoors yesterday and expects to start Wednesday in Fenway Park against the Twins, all but called the spring training trade of Bronson Arroyo a mistake, and identified starting pitching as the foremost concern heading into the 2007 season.

``We came out of spring training, everybody said, `Well, you have extra starting pitching,' " Schilling said. ``Nobody ever has extra starting pitching. If you have it on Monday, you don't have it on Sunday. It never fails.

``So many things happened to us so fast that it became a surplus to a lack of very quickly here. I think it's a lesson that people like [general manager] Theo [ Epstein] will have to learn only one time. I don't think it will ever be an issue again."

Boston's Opening Day payroll was $120.1 million -- second only to the Yankees ($198 million) -- but below the luxury-tax threshold. The Sox already have nearly $100 million in guaranteed salaries next season, but with the current collective bargaining agreement due to expire in December, it's unknown what the luxury-tax threshold will be in 2007.

But Schilling, without revealing his sources, predicted the Sox will be free spenders this winter, going forward in what he said again ``absolutely" will be his final season.

``I think they'll be very aggressive in trying to fill the roles they see need to be filled," Schilling said. ``They'll be a player in every race for every player they feel will be a fit here . . . I think there will be less attention paid to the payroll number than there has been in the past. I could be wrong, but that's the impression I get. As a player, that certainly doesn't disappoint me.

``I don't want to say the handcuffs are off, because they're never really on here, but this team, I've felt they've always operated with an eye toward the luxury tax and trying to play within the rules, so to speak. They go over the tax number to a degree to get players in here. They're not going to get absurd, but I think [tax considerations] might not be as much the case [next] year, which is exciting."

The Sox cited the luxury-tax burdens of adding Bobby Abreu as a reason they did not consummate a trading-deadline deal with Philadelphia for the outfielder, who instead went to the Yankees.

Asked why he believes those concerns will be diminished, Schilling said: ``I have my reasons. I could be wrong. That's just my opinion. I think they've never tried to spend stupid just for the sake of getting a player. I don't think that will ever change, but I really feel that they're going to go into next year with 25 guys they believe will give us a chance to win the World Series."

Sox majority owner John W. Henry, apprised of Schilling's remarks, wrote in an e-mail: ``It doesn't make sense for us to disclose our offseason plans in advance, whether it is player acquisitions or payroll. However, I know Theo and all of us are determined -- much like we were heading into the 2003-04 offseason -- to compete aggressively for a championship."

Manager Terry Francona is hopeful that bench coach Brad Mills will be given consideration for any managerial jobs that might open. Mills, who will turn 50 in January, has known Francona since they roomed together at the University of Arizona; they later played together for the Expos from 1981-83. Mills spent 11 years in the minors managing, managed Jason Varitek in the Arizona Fall League, served as an advance scout for the Cubs, and has spent the last three seasons as Sox bench coach after serving in the same capacity under Frank Robinson with the Expos in 2003. ``I think he is obviously qualified and more than deserving," Francona said.

Mills, who has never interviewed for a big league managing job, acknowledged that he'd like to manage someday. ``But I enjoy this job and working with Terry," he said. ``I observe what he does on a daily basis, how he handles the players, how he handles the media, how he handles all the aspects of the job." Barring an offer to manage, Mills is certain to return next season.

One member of Francona's staff who has been through the interview process is third base coach DeMarlo Hale, who was interviewed by the Sox before Francona was hired prior to the 2004 season. Hale, 45, also has managed in the minors (he started as a coach in the Sox organization in 1992) and the Fall League and coached the last five seasons in the big leagues. He, too, figures to be a prospective candidate for future managerial openings.

The official scorer took away an error charged to shortstop Alex Cora Tuesday, ruling the play a fielder's choice. Cora had been charged with an error after missing an attempted tag . . . Coco Crisp didn't start because of a sore left index finger, the one he had surgically repaired in April, and one big league scout insisted that the injury has affected Crisp's swing all season, contrary to what the player has said. Crisp scored the tying run as a pinch runner in the eighth . . . The Yankees altered their rotation, having Chien-Ming Wang open the series tonight against Josh Beckett in the Bronx. Julian Tavarez and Kyle Snyder will start for the Sox in tomorrow's day-night doubleheader, while Sunday's starter remains undecided. Tavarez left last night for New York. He said he has a custody hearing involving his son, an issue that has preoccupied him all summer . . . Francona said injured closer Jonathan Papelbon will likely begin playing catch this weekend. ``Papelbon is doing real good," the manager said. ``He said yesterday that if things were different, [he] could probably have pitched today. That's nice to hear." Papelbon hasn't pitched since Sept. 1, when, according to the Sox medical staff, his shoulder slipped slightly out of joint while pitching against the Blue Jays . . . Lefthander Kason Gabbard, who will miss a start because of a strained back muscle, hasn't allowed a home run in 23 innings this season. But his walks-per-nine-innings average is 5.48, the highest on the staff . . . Who ranks second on the team to Papelbon (9.88) in strikeouts per nine innings? The surprising answer is Snyder (8.25) . . . Twins ace Johan Santana, a virtual lock to win the Cy Young Award, is projected to face the Sox Thursday at Fenway.