Lefty
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It looks like there is a chance Nomar could be out of Boston before his contract is up. With Nomar living in Arizona during the winters I would love to see him in a Diamondback uniform, even if it's a long shot. This from the Red Sox board.
Short rope? Garciaparra came out of his slump by hitting in 26 straight games, going a full month, from April 27 to May 27, in which he hit safely in every game. Nonetheless, the official believes Garciaparra ''has made his call. I think he's going to the West Coast. In Boston, he feels the burden of the marketplace. He knows that if anything goes wrong, he'll have the heat, the pressure again, and I don't think he wants it.
''He blames the media? What he is really saying, what he finds so difficult to endure, is that he feels, `If I'm not playing great, I'm in trouble, and the pressure grates on me.' And if you're the club, you can't invest in a guy if you don't know his mind-set about the city.''
But if Garciaparra feels the grinding pressure, his performance has yet to reflect it. Year after year, his numbers have been a model of consistency, with one of the few fluctuations reflected this year in his home-road numbers -- he's hitting .396 with nine of his 13 home runs at Fenway Park, .263 on the road.
In the end, as is the case with most elite players, Garciaparra's future will be primarily a business decision, made by both the player and the club.
''Teams say all the time they definitely want to keep a player,'' Burkett said, ''but when it comes time to making an offer, they don't make an offer that is close to market value.
''It's hard for fans to understand, I think, because it's a lot of money, anyway, whether it's market value or 70 percent of market value or even 50 percent of market value, it's still a lot of money. It may be impossible for them to understand.
''A team is not going to say, `We don't want to sign him.' They say `We'd love to keep this guy.' But when it's time to step up to the plate, they have a short bat. It happens all the time in baseball. Hopefully, the Red Sox will keep Nomar and do it the right way.''
The Sox and Garciaparra are expected to resume negotiations after this season. Without an agreement in place, the club runs the risk that Garciaparra will walk after the '04 season and the Sox will have nothing in return, which is what happened in the cases of Roger Clemens and Mo Vaughn.
Short rope? Garciaparra came out of his slump by hitting in 26 straight games, going a full month, from April 27 to May 27, in which he hit safely in every game. Nonetheless, the official believes Garciaparra ''has made his call. I think he's going to the West Coast. In Boston, he feels the burden of the marketplace. He knows that if anything goes wrong, he'll have the heat, the pressure again, and I don't think he wants it.
''He blames the media? What he is really saying, what he finds so difficult to endure, is that he feels, `If I'm not playing great, I'm in trouble, and the pressure grates on me.' And if you're the club, you can't invest in a guy if you don't know his mind-set about the city.''
But if Garciaparra feels the grinding pressure, his performance has yet to reflect it. Year after year, his numbers have been a model of consistency, with one of the few fluctuations reflected this year in his home-road numbers -- he's hitting .396 with nine of his 13 home runs at Fenway Park, .263 on the road.
In the end, as is the case with most elite players, Garciaparra's future will be primarily a business decision, made by both the player and the club.
''Teams say all the time they definitely want to keep a player,'' Burkett said, ''but when it comes time to making an offer, they don't make an offer that is close to market value.
''It's hard for fans to understand, I think, because it's a lot of money, anyway, whether it's market value or 70 percent of market value or even 50 percent of market value, it's still a lot of money. It may be impossible for them to understand.
''A team is not going to say, `We don't want to sign him.' They say `We'd love to keep this guy.' But when it's time to step up to the plate, they have a short bat. It happens all the time in baseball. Hopefully, the Red Sox will keep Nomar and do it the right way.''
The Sox and Garciaparra are expected to resume negotiations after this season. Without an agreement in place, the club runs the risk that Garciaparra will walk after the '04 season and the Sox will have nothing in return, which is what happened in the cases of Roger Clemens and Mo Vaughn.
