"I want to focus on the season," he said.
It is a near certainty that when the Sox break camp today, none of the Big Four -- Garciaparra, Pedro Martinez, Jason Varitek, or Derek Lowe -- will be signed to an extension. All four have been made offers; all four to date have found the offers wanting. Lowe has already said he expects to leave after the season; an industry source said the club had made a "rock bottom" offer to Varitek; and Martinez privately has told associates he expects to become a free agent.
Garciaparra, stung by Sox' plans to trade him had they succeeded in acquiring Alex Rodriguez over the winter, was asked yesterday if he had a greater sense now of whether the Sox wanted him back in early December, when he learned that the club was far along in its attempts to get A-Rod.
"No, I don't," Garciaparra said. "I'm just the same as I've always been. If they want me, then show me."
What have they shown him to date? "Not much, really," he said. "But then again, that's all up for everyone to say."
His perception, of course, matters more than anyone else's.
"Absolutely," he said. "But I think all you guys are intelligent. You've seen some stuff, too."
Garciaparra has been adamant about not having his negotiations aired publicly, the way they were last December, when his agent, Arn Tellem, blasted the Sox for being "disingenuous" by their pursuit of Rodriguez, and Sox principal owner John W. Henry fired back, saying the Sox had sought A-Rod only because they didn't know whether Garciaparra wanted to remain in Boston. Subsequently, it was learned that the Sox had made Garciaparra a four-year offer for $15 million a season last spring, and Garciaparra had countered with a proposal that would have averaged $17 million a year.
When Tellem called the Sox to find out whether reports of the A-Rod talks were true, he was informed of a new offer: a four-year, $48 million deal that was described to him as a "market correction" by general manager Theo Epstein. The revised offer, coupled with the A-Rod talks, led Tellem to complain publicly about how the Sox were treating his client.
