FORT MYERS, Fla. - How did it make Terry Francona feel to hear that Red Sox majority owner John W. Henry was optimistic about signing the manager to a contract extension?
"I guess that's better than saying, 'No way in hell,' " Francona said.
The Sox took a significant step toward a multiyear extension when ownership - Henry, CEO Larry Lucchino, and chairman Tom Werner - and general manager Theo Epstein took Francona out to dinner Monday night to discuss a new deal. Francona, who joined Bill Carrigan as the only Red Sox managers to win two World Series titles and whose eight Series wins are the most ever without a loss, would appear to have the leverage to at least double his 2007 salary and leap to the upper echelon of managers in terms of pay.
As manager of the Yankees last season, Joe Torre was paid $7.5 million, more than twice the next highest-paid manager, Lou Piniella of the Cubs, who was at $3.5 million. Torre took a pay cut when he rejected a Yankees offer and signed a reported three-year, $13 million deal to manage the Dodgers, but he remains at the top of the salary scale, according to an agent who represents a current big-league manager.
Francona was paid a salary of $1.65 million in 2007, not including bonuses accrued for winning the division, pennant, and World Series, and is expected to vault into the $3 million-plus range, if not into the $3.5 million-$4 million range occupied by Piniella, Tony La Russa, and Dusty Baker.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland, whose contract was extended just a couple of days after the season, joined that group when his salary was doubled to $4 million, according to an industry source. Leyland vaulted past longtime Braves manager Bobby Cox, who is believed to be in the $3 million range. Angels manager Mike Scioscia is reported to be in the $2 million-$3 million range.
Along with the dollars, length of contract is a potential sticking point. Francona is expected to seek at least a three-year deal.
"Ownership is aware of how I feel about this," said Francona, who in his four seasons as Sox manager has taken the team to the postseason three times, the only manager to do so. "The best way to move forward as much as possible is to keep it under the radar, which we've done a good job of to this point."
Werner indicated that he thought a deal would get done. "Discussions are ongoing," he said. "I'm optimistic."
Taking his cuts
David Ortiz popped into camp and took about 20 minutes of swings in the batting cage, with Ino Guerrero throwing to him. Asked about his arthroscopically repaired left knee, Ortiz said, "Doing good. Getting to almost 100 percent." Ortiz said he was looking forward to "just doing my thing. Up to no more than that. See if we can win another World Series." Ortiz said he spoke with injured pitcher Curt Schilling. "[He] said he's going to be all right," Ortiz said. Schilling posted an entry on his blog yesterday in which he indicated he has little interest in prolonging his dispute with the club. "The course of action has been laid out and I am dead set on making this work," he wrote. "I will pitch again, and win, but it will be on a timetable I just don't know yet." . . . The Sox made a contract proposal to free agent lefthander Odalis Perez, offering him a minor league contract with no promise of a big-league job, but Perez elected to sign a minor league deal with the Nationals. Perez's ERA was over 5.50 each of the last two seasons.Main attraction
Werner said the season-opening two-game set against the Athletics in Tokyo is sold out. He also said the Dodgers are looking into the possibility of expanding capacity to 100,000 in the Los Angeles Coliseum for their March 29 exhibition game against the Sox . . . Outfielder J.D. Drew worked out for the first time yesterday despite a chest cold that left him with a raspy voice. Drew's family expanded in the offseason, his wife, Sheigh, giving birth to the couple's second child, daughter Ella. Drew said his son, Jack David, who turned 2 yesterday, may be facing additional surgery to correct his dislocated hips. Drew acknowledged yesterday that his son's condition weighed on him last season, in addition to all the changes that came from signing with a new team in a new league. "All the ups and downs I had, I finished strong," he said. "When all was said and done, I was able to keep my head above water." . . . Third baseman Mike Lowell stopped by to drop off his equipment in the afternoon, after the day's activities had ceased . . . Second baseman Dustin Pedroia, asked why Jacoby Ellsbury appeared in a pictorial in Men's Vogue instead of him, said: "I turned them down."Cuban perspective
Lefthanded pitcher Michael Tejera, who defected from Cuba while changing planes in the Miami airport in 1994 and was joined by his father, mother, brother, and sister when they left the island two years later by boat, reacted to the announcement that Fidel Castro was resigning as president of Cuba. "I don't think it will change," Tejera said of the political situation in Cuba. "I hope it changes. His brother will be there, so I don't think there will be a change in the government." Tejera, who as a nonroster invitee is competing for a spot in the Sox bullpen, said, "I left 14 years ago. I still have a lot of family there, the friends that I grew up with. I hope the Cuban people can taste freedom at least one time in their life." Tejera has not been back to Cuba since he left, but says he remains in telephone contact with family and friends on the island. "It's huge," he said of his desire to one day return. "I hope one day I can go back under different circumstances, and see the place where I was born and grew up. That's something I'll never forget, where I came from, where I was born."Amalie Benjamin of the Globe staff contributed; Gordon Edes can be reached at edes@globe.com.
