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February 9, 2007 »

Schilling insists he's not looking for a raise

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Red Sox ace Curt Schilling says he isn’t looking for a raise now that he’s decided to pitch in 2008 — he just wants a contract.

If he doesn’t have an extension by the end of spring training, Schilling says he won’t negotiate during the season and will become a free agent for the first time in his career after the 2007 World Series.

“It will be quick and painless, one way or another, and that’s probably the best way to do something like this,” Schilling said Wednesday.

The six-time All-Star announced earlier this week that he would return in 2008 after previously saying the 2007 season could be his last.

Schilling, who acts as his own agent, is due to make $13 million in the final year of his deal with Boston. He said his initial talks with general manager Theo Epstein indicate the team wants him back in 2008.

Schilling said he’s told the team he’ll play for the same salary and that more money “was not a very big deal to me.” But he said he knows the team might have different ideas about what it can pay. Either way, Schilling said he won’t let questions about an unsettled contract linger through the year.

“There won’t be any distractions in questioning because if I don’t have a contract before the season starts, then I’ll get a contract after the 2007 season, as a free agent,” said Schilling, who spoke to reporters Wednesday at an event for The SHADE Foundation, his wife Shonda’s skin cancer prevention organization.

The 40-year-old right-hander said he knows his age could be a concern for the team, but he said he won’t accept any conditions that would allow the club to see how he performs at the start of the season before finalizing a new contract.

“That’s not going to happen,” Schilling said. “I think I’ve earned the right to do one or the other. If they don’t think the risk is worth the reward, or vice versa, I get that.”

Red Sox spokesman John Blake said the team had no comment about the negotiations. In an e-mail Monday, owner John Henry said Schilling was still an elite pitcher and his return was great news for the club.

Schilling said he feels good physically and hasn’t lost his desire to compete. But Schilling, who has four kids, said if his family wanted him to step away, he would have, adding his career puts major demands on his wife.

Shonda Schilling said Wednesday she’s pushing her husband to keep playing because she wants their children, particularly the youngest, who is 4, to have memories of seeing their father pitch. She also wanted him to have a chance to boost his bid for the Hall of Fame.

“He will tell you right away that he won’t make the Hall of Fame, but I just felt in my heart, just give it a couple more years,” she said.

Schilling was 15-7 with a 3.97 ERA last season, striking out 183, including his 3,000th career strikeout, in 204 innings. He is 207-138 with a 3.44 ERA in a 19-year major league career.

The Red Sox have made several major acquisitions in the offseason, including Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka and free-agent outfielder J.D. Drew, and Schilling said he wanted to be part of the team’s future.

“It just became almost a no-brainer for me, as long as it was OK with the family,” he said.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

Report: Epstein ties the knot in New York

BOSTON -- Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, known for his stealth in baseball deals, quietly got married this month, according to a published report.

The Boston Globe reported today that Epstein's father, Leslie Epstein, confirmed his son married Marie Whitney in New York at the original Nathan's Famous hot dog stand, built in 1916.

"We're very happy for them, of course, but we can't say much more other than Marie has some strong childhood memories of Coney Island, and that's why we all went down to watch the orthodox rabbi who married them at Nathan's Famous. It's amazing the grip that nostalgia has on people," the elder Epstein, head of the creative writing department at Boston University, told the Globe in an e-mail.

"I hope there's much happiness for them and for all Red Sox fans...this season," Leslie Epstein said.

Theo Epstein, 33, and Whitney, 28, reportedly became engaged last May, but did not make a formal announcement.

Whitney, who did graduate study in health care policies at Harvard, has been a volunteer at Horizons for Homeless Children, a group that focuses on the needs of homeless children.

The couple are out of the country this week, the Globe reported.

Epstein is known for keeping things quiet - such has his successful bid for Japanese pitching star Daisuke Matsuzaka. He sneaked out of Fenway Park in a gorilla suit on Halloween 2005 when he quit his job for a few months.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry  at 7:07 AM | Permalink