Figure on Drew cashing in

NAPLES, Fla. -- In the words of former Patriots coach Pete Carroll, agents are feeling "pumped and jacked." There was a buzz in the lobby yesterday of the Naples Grande Resort, site of the general managers meetings, that free agent Alfonso Soriano's price could reach almost $20 million annually and that J.D. Drew's price tag is four years, $56 million.

"That's the money we're hearing," said one National League general manager concerning Drew, a Scott Boras client. "It's getting a little crazy. I don't know if people will pay it, but he's a guy a few teams are eyeing and in the end, they'll probably come close to that."

Will the Red Sox pony up that kind of money for Drew? He is two years younger than Johnny Damon, for whom the team would only go as high as four years, $40 million. There's no question the Red Sox and Boras have had multiple discussions on the soon-to-be 31-year-old right fielder, but Boras has shopped Drew and the Chicago Cubs are seriously interested.

Meanwhile, the Sox definitely appear to be the clear front-runners for shortstop Julio Lugo. "Julio Lugo is one of the best shortstops in the game," said Mets GM Omar Minaya. "I really believe Julio is an excellent defensive shortstop, let alone the fact that he can really hit. Don't sell him short defensively. I know teams are looking at him as a second baseman or whatever, but he's a major league shortstop."

Yet another GM believes Lugo will make his share of errors, but he'll also get to a lot of balls. There's the feeling that Lugo has range equivalent to Alex Gonzalez (who is being courted by Toronto), but that Gonzalez is smoother and less prone to miscues.

Sox GM Theo Epstein spoke to a few teams yesterday, including the Padres and Mets. While there's been speculation that Boston is trying to pry Brad Lidge or Rhode Island native Dan Wheeler out of Houston, Astros GM Tim Purpura said yesterday, "We're trying to strengthen the areas we feel vulnerable, and that's not one of them. We feel good about [Chad] Qualls, Wheeler, Lidge, and Trever Miller. Those are four strong guys in our bullpen."

Although the Astros need offense, it's hard to imagine the Red Sox selling the Astros on Wily Mo Peña playing a corner outfield spot in the National League, or the Sox letting Kevin Youkilis go in a deal for Lidge.

The Sox are not interested in Tigers lefthander Jamie Walker, who has received a lot of interest, but are said to have interest in Scott Schoeneweis and possibly Ron Villone and Mike Stanton. The Sox are kicking the tires on several relievers, including Justin Speier and Danys Baez and will monitor Eric Gagne's rehab progress.

The Red Sox were interested in Mets righthander Heath Bell, but he was dealt yesterday along with situational lefty Royce Ring to the Padres for righthander Jon Adkins and outfielder Ben Johnson.

Epstein praised San Diego GM Kevin Towers for being able to build solid bullpens with "scrap heaps" from other teams.

"When you look at what San Diego's been able to do in turning some guys on the scrap heap into middle relievers you'll save yourself many millions of dollars over the years," Epstein said. "You have to be good at it. I'm sure part of that is the ballpark and defense. That's an invaluable ability to be able to do it."

Epstein said of his search for a closer, "I'm sure something will unfold before opening day."

While there were more behind-the-scenes talks between Epstein and Boras yesterday concerning Daisuke Matsuzaka (and Drew), the sides have resolved they will not make many public statements concerning their negotiations over the next 30 days.

"We're going to a create a calm, peaceful environment to get something done," Epstein said yesterday. "We're going to shy away from giving daily updates or updates at all. We're going to negotiate it in peace and quiet and try to get something done."

Boras is scheduled to leave today and report to his Newport Beach, Calif., offices. Matsuzaka landed in Los Angeles yesterday morning with his wife and an agent from the Boras office. He told Japanese reporters that he was going to look into training facilities in the Los Angeles area to begin his offseason workout program, while also being able to monitor the contract talks and work other business deals. Matsuzaka is signed with Nike, and now that he's in the United States, he will likely be more visible to the Nike brand.

Asked whether Matsuzaka planned to visit Boston soon, per the invitation of Epstein, Boras said as he was walking to his car, "I'm not sure if we're going to Boston yet." Boras is supposed to meet with Matsuzaka this weekend and the pitcher is then scheduled to return to Japan to take care of some Seibu Lions business before returning to LA.

Matsuzaka told the Associated Press before his trip to LA that he was "surprised" to hear the Red Sox bid $51.1 million for the rights to negotiate a contract with him.

"I was very surprised when I heard the figure," the 26-year-old said. "It shows that they really appreciate my ability. I know there will be a lot of pressure, but that's something I'm used to and something I enjoy."

Gordon Edes of the Globe staff contributed to this report; Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.