Neither superstar completely closed the door on returning. But while Martinez focused more on his disdain for the media than the apparent lack of progress on a multiyear contract extension, Garciaparra, who majored in management at Georgia Tech, left no doubt that he believes Sox executives treated him shabbily and have failed to rectify the perceived abuse.
Garciaparra was honeymooning in Hawaii when he learned that the Sox were trying to trade Manny Ramirez to the Rangers for Rodriguez. He would have been dealt to the White Sox for Magglio Ordonez, though he also saw reports citing the possibility he would be shipped to the Dodgers.
"I was definitely hurt by a lot of it," he said. "I probably felt like anyone else would feel after spending their whole career in one organization and having to find out you've been traded, or you're pretty much gone, over the television."
Asked if the team had explained the situation to his satisfaction, Garciaparra gave every indication that the Sox brass, in his view, came up short.
"Have they done anything?" he responded. "Well, I pretty much got a lot my information, like I said, off the television. That's really what I kind of just base things off of and what you guys had written. I kind of just stopped reading it after a while and left it alone."
Indeed, he said he felt as if the Sox left him in limbo.
"A couple of times there, I didn't know if I was supposed to be renting a place in Tucson or down in Vero Beach or wherever," he said, referring to the sites of the White Sox and Dodgers training camps. "I'm just glad I still have my connections here in Fort Myers to get a place to rent."
While Garciaparra vented -- and indicated he would forgo further public reaction to the controversy -- Martinez abandoned the confrontational tone he struck last February and indicated he was prepared to accept his fate, whether or not it involves the Sox beyond this year.
