Luvofthegame
09-15-2006, 11:07 PM
By Gordon Edes
Globe Staff
9/15/06
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.
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts 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."
Globe Staff
9/15/06
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.
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts 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."