Tentative deal in place to send Schilling to Boston for Fossum

Intent on reorganizing the team and slightly slimming down their payroll, the Arizona Diamondbacks have a tentative deal in place to send ace Curt Schilling to the Boston Red Sox for young left-hander Casey Fossum and prospects, the Arizona ace confirmed Monday.

The deal is not a certainty: Schilling, whose current contract expires after he is scheduled to earn $12 million in 2004, must waive a no-trade clause. Schilling also wants an extension before he consents to do that and join Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe in what could be nearly as dominating a front part of the rotation as he and Randy Johnson have been for Arizona. It is believed that Schilling has 72 hours, through 5 p.m. Friday, to accept.

"I won't leave here without an extension," said Schilling, who said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and president Larry Lucchino were coming to Phoenix to meet with him.

"I'm reading that I'm demanding three years," Schilling said. "I've never demanded anything from anybody, but I will get a contract extension before I leave Arizona."

The All-Star pitcher announced the tentative trade Monday to reporters outside his house as his children and dogs played in the yard. During the impromptu news conference, Johnson drove by in a pickup truck and yelled to reporters playfully, "You're blocking the street!"

The trade appears to be the first of at least a couple of significant moves for the Diamondbacks. General manager Joe Garagiola Jr. has had extensive talks with Milwaukee regarding All-Star first baseman Richie Sexson and with Florida regarding first baseman Derrek Lee.

By clearing Schilling's $12 million off of its books, Arizona then could focus on acquiring Sexson and the $8.425 million that the Brewers owe him for the '04 season -- or Lee, who is expected to receive a significant raise through salary arbitration on the $4.25 million he earned last year.

Garagiola on Monday declined to comment on what sources say are ongoing talks.

"I can't confirm and I can't deny any trade situation," the Diamondbacks GM said. "My view is when we have something to announce, we'll announce it."

Boston's Epstein also isn't talking.

"We won't have any comment until we have an official transaction to announce," Epstein told reporters in Boston. On Monday night, Epstein attended the Boston Celtics' game against the New York Knicks with free-agent closer Keith Foulke.

Arizona righty Curt Schilling is close to bringing his fastball to Boston's Fenway Park.(AP)

If the Diamondbacks have their way they could announce the deal before Thanksgiving Day. Owner Jerry Colangelo already has made clear his intention to trim what was a $94 million player payroll in '03 to $80 million in '04 and down to $55 million in '05.

Moving Schilling would start the Diamondbacks down that path, and acquiring a Sexson or a Lee would address another significant Diamondbacks wish: The need to add a productive, middle-of-the-order bat to what was one of the weakest lineups in the NL last season. Arizona ranked 10th in the league in runs scored and 12th in the league in home runs.

Clearly, trading Schilling is Step One. And even with the parameters of a trade mostly in place, there is no guarantee that Schilling and the Red Sox will negotiate this deal to its conclusion. Remember last winter, in a situation not totally unlike this one, the Diamondbacks and Colorado arranged a Matt Williams-Larry Walker trade. The proposed deal was taken to the players, the 72-hour clock started, and each player wound up exercising his veto power.

What might be different in this scenario, however, is the direction Boston goes in its managerial search. Though Epstein was leading Texas coach DeMarlo Hale through a round of interviews Monday, Terry Francona is considered as the leading candidate to replace Grady Little.

Francona managed the Philadelphia Phillies for part of Schilling's time there, and Schilling, who got along well with the skipper, has publicly endorsed Francona for the Red Sox job.

"I have made it known that he would be a reason I'd be interested in going to Boston," Schilling said of Francona. "I only said that because it was my understanding that he was a slam-dunk for the job anyway. I love the guy. He's a great manager."

If Boston does wind up hiring Francona as its field manager -- a move that also could come before Thanksgiving -- that also might factor favorably into Schilling's decision regarding the Red Sox.

Schilling, runner-up to Johnson in Cy Young Award balloting in both 2001 and 2002, has compiled a 58-28 record with a 3.14 ERA during his four seasons in Arizona. Lifetime, Schilling is 163-117 with a 3.33 ERA in 450 career games.

There was no confirmation late Monday that Fossum would immediately be flipped to Milwaukee for Sexson, and a Brewers spokesman said that Milwaukee has not spoken to the Red Sox.

Whether Fossum and prospects would be dealt for Sexson after the Schilling deal, or whether Milwaukee would demand more established big leaguers such as infielder Craig Counsell and pitcher John Patterson, remains unclear.

Boston's apparent decision to deal Fossum is significant because it was just last winter when Epstein, new on the job, refused to include Fossum in a deal to Montreal that would have landed Boston right-hander Bartolo Colon. Instead, the Expos wound up trading Colon to the Chicago White Sox, and Fossum went on to a disappointing season in Boston, going 6-5 with a 5.47 ERA in 19 games, including 14 starts.

Consenting to extend Schilling's lucrative deal to complete this trade will make for an even more intriguing winter of hot stove watching in Boston. Already, Martinez, Lowe, the newly married Nomar Garciaparra and catcher Jason Varitek are eligible for free agency following next season. Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez, who went unclaimed through irrevocable waivers earlier this month, will be only halfway through an eight-year, $160 million deal.

It seems difficult to believe that the Red Sox could afford to retain each of those players -- including Schilling -- into '05 barring some deep discounts or some significant salary deferrals.

Making things more intriguing, of course, is that Schilling is one of the starting pitchers on the New York Yankees' radar. If, in fact, he does land in Boston, given recent history between these two AL East powerhouses, you can expect the Yankees to strike quickly with a blockbuster move of their own. Re-signing Andy Pettitte? Trading for Montreal's Javier Vazquez? Signing Colon?

Stay tuned.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.