Were any of you thinking what I was thinking? Any chance to land him? Next year? Would it cost to much in cap space? Thoughts? http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_y...A--?slug=ap-redsox-martinez&prov=ap&type=lgns Martinez pending free agency not Red Sox distraction By STEPHEN HAWKINS, AP Sports Writer May 1, 2004 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Pedro Martinez says he'll test the free-agent market after this season, but the Boston Red Sox insist that decision by the three-time Cy Young winner won't be a distraction now. ``Not even for one minute,'' manager Terry Francona said Saturday before the AL East-leading Red Sox played a doubleheader in Texas. ``In today's game, these things happen. That's the way it goes.'' Martinez, the scheduled starter in the second game, wasn't in the clubhouse before the first game. The right-hander told several Boston newspapers Friday night that wouldn't talk about his contract with the club during the season and will become a free agent. Martinez's agent, Fernando Cuza, wouldn't comment when reached Saturday by The Associated Press. General manager Theo Epstein said the primary focus for the Red Sox remains trying to build a team that can compete for and win a World Series. ``Sometimes, however, our commitment to building winning teams, every year, means that we will have disagreements with our players about the length and precise value of their next contracts,'' Epstein said in a statement Saturday. Epstein said such disagreements were unfortunate but inevitable, and would be resolved in time. Martinez wasn't specifically named in the four-paragraph statement. ``We respect our players. We tell our players the truth. We listen to our players. We protect our players,'' Epstein said. ``We negotiate with our players in good faith, and we make every effort not to discuss these negotiations in public.'' Martinez is making $17.5 million this season, his seventh in Boston. He has been the AL ERA leader four of the last six years. ``I'm just really sad for the fans in New England who had high hopes that at this time I could say, truly, that I was going to stay in Boston, but now they're going to have to compete with the rest of the league,'' Martinez told the Boston Herald, which first posted the story on its Web site Friday night. The pitcher accused the Red Sox of unfairly raising questions about his right shoulder to bring down his salary or threaten his chances of signing with another team. ``If you don't want me, it's OK. Just let me go with somebody else,'' he said. ``Don't try to damage my future by just sneaking things around when I didn't do anything to this management or the fans.'' Going into Saturday night's game, Martinez was 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA in five starts. His career record was 170-69 with a 2.62 ERA. Last season, he was 14-4 with a 2.22 ERA. He limited opposing hitters to a league-low .215 average, and his 206 strikeouts were just one fewer than leader Esteban Loaiza even though Martinez missed five games. Martinez wouldn't say what the chances are that he would re-sign with Boston. ``I don't know, I'm going to have to wait and see,'' he said. ``I gave them every single chance I could. ... I gave them every opportunity, every discount I could give them to actually stay in Boston and they never took advantage of it. Didn't even give me an offer.'' The team and Martinez negotiated during spring training, but nothing was accomplished.
I didn't see it. Sorry. And I posted it here because the "theme" of the post was Astros/Sports related (FA acquisition).
