Sox Want To Revel In '07 A Little Longer

BOSTON—Terry Francona has uttered the words “stay in the moment”—or some variation thereof—just about every day since the start of spring training. The Red Sox tried to take his advice one more time Tuesday prior to and during the “Rolling Rally II” honoring their world championship.

The Sox know the team that arrives in Ft. Myers in about 3 ½ months will be different than the one that finished off a sweep of the Rockies in Denver Sunday night. But for one more day, at least, the organization wanted to bask in its accomplishment and reflect on the rigorous grind that culminated with the franchise’s second title in four years.

“No team brings back 25 guys,” Francona said at Fenway Park before the parade. “And when you’re good and you have veterans—free agency and those things sometimes get in the way.”

The future is cloudiest for the impending free agents Mike Lowell and Curt Schilling. Lowell was already sure to be one of the hottest players on the market after a resurgent regular season (.324, 21 homers, 120 RBI), but winning World Series MVP honors made Lowell as popular outside the clubhouse as he already was inside it.

“Can’t say enough about Mikey,” Jason Varitek said. “He’s such a solid consistent piece that we could lean on the entire season. He produced, over and over, and he works hard. There’s no question that I want to see him back in this uniform. I think it’s very important that he is.”

While Theo Epstein reportedly called re-signing Lowell a priority during the playoffs, the Sox are famous for removing emotion from the negotiating process and a reluctance to invest long-term in veterans (Lowell turns 34 in February). Their resilience could be tested by Lowell’s resurgent “Q” rating and the number of teams that will likely view him as a cost-efficient alternative to the other big free agent third baseman—Alex Rodriguez.

Lowell said Tuesday he wasn’t focusing on the off-season—the same mantra he’s repeated all month. “This is a good situation for me,” Lowell said. “I think it’ll be a good situation for a lot of people.

“But I really don’t want to dwell on that right now, you know? I really want to enjoy a parade. Eight months of hard work as a group that we’ve been going through and we should celebrate. We deserve to celebrate today.”

Schilling’s focus wasn’t so singular. He said Tuesday morning he’d enjoy the parade and “…over the next couple days we’ll sit back and evaluate everything,” but after filing for free agency—the first time in his career he’s reached the open market—he posted a massive entry (more than 2,000 words) on his blog detailing the teams he’d like to play for next season if he doesn’t re-sign with the Sox.

“I cannot thank anybody enough—Mr. [John] Henry, Mr. [Larry] Lucchino and Mr. [Tom] Werner for bringing me here and giving me the opportunity [and] Theo [Epstein] for taking the chance,” Schilling said. “I’ve had four unbelievable seasons. Would have loved to have won four in a row. Would have loved to have pitched better. Would have loved to have not been hurt. But I wouldn’t trade one minute of this for anything in the world. It was an incredible experience.”

Other players eligible for free agency include pitchers Mike Timlin, Eric Gagne and Matt Clement, utilityman Eric Hinske and catcher Doug Mirabelli. The Sox have options on pitchers Tim Wakefield and Julian Tavarez.

“The biggest decision we have right now is to balance celebration with preparation,” Lucchino said. “It takes more of an effort to celebrate sometimes than it does to prepare. But we’re going to do both.”