ARLINGTON, Texas -- Declaring "enough is enough," Pedro Martinez last night closed the door on contract negotiations with the Red Sox, saying he will enter free agency after the season and play next year where he is wanted, even if it's the Bronx.
"Right now, it's done," he said. "It's not going to work this year. At least for the rest of the year I'm going to concentrate on playing baseball and do whatever I have to do for the team to try to win."
Martinez, who is playing the final season of a seven-year, $90 million contract, maintained he would like to finish his career with the Sox if they care to sign him as a free agent. But he made clear he was irked by the team, in his view, misleading the public about the degree of its commitment to signing him, and playing "dirty" by unfairly raising questions about the condition of his shoulder.
"I just don't like people lying, trying to fake that they're signing us when they never made an effort strong enough to make us actually think about anything," Martinez said. "They never made us an offer. I waited an extra month to actually let [principal owner] John Henry do whatever he promised me he was going to do, and nothing came out of it."
As for his belief that the Sox privately suggested his shoulder might be at risk, he asserted they did so "just to bring my contract down."
"That's the whole issue," Martinez said. "That bothered me a little bit because that was dirty playing after I promised I was going to keep my mouth shut about the negotiations. That bothered me that they did that just to bring my salary down or make things more difficult for me to go in a free agency year."
Moreover, he said, "If you don't want me, it's OK. Just let me go with somebody else. Don't try to damage my future by just sneaking things around when I didn't do anything to this management or the fans."
Sox executives were not available to comment early this morning.
Asked why the Sox would use such a ploy, if they did, Martinez said, "Maybe they needed me to sign for a cheaper salary than they thought I should earn. It's not bad to negotiate. I understand that. At the same time, don't try to give me a friendly face and say, `We're trying hard. Keep [public discussion] low,' just like they did to [Derek Lowe], try to keep him shut down so he wouldn't say anything."
Martinez said he also was put off by the team's proposal to include a clause in any future contract that would void the deal if his career was cut short by an injury.
"That was the only thing they talked about in spring training," he said. "I said, `Don't even bring it up anymore.' The same thing to [catcher Jason] Varitek. Would you talk to Varitek about a voidable contract? That's not fair to a guy like that."
