The Red Sox officially signed P Pedro Martinez to a
six-year, $75M contract on Friday, making him the highest
paid player in MLB (See #28 for the top five). In
announcing the deal, Red Sox GM Dan Duquette described the
deal as a "bargain." Duquette: "It looked to us like he
might get $15 million a year as a free agent. ... In terms
of that, we got a bargain." Red Sox CEO John Harrington did
not attend the Martinez press conference, which the GLOBE's
Gordon Edes called the "biggest in recent years on Yawkey
Way" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/14). In Boston, Peter Gammons called
the deal "mind-boggling, right down to the estimated" $1M
"it will cost to get the contract insured." Gammons wrote
that from a marketing standpoint, Martinez "not only brings
duende to a team too-long mired in the image of white socks,
red necks, and Blue Ribbon beer, but he expands the Red Sox
audience to a huge New England Hispanic nation." Gammons:
"All this increases the value of the franchise should
[Harrington] choose to sell, or take in a developer/partner
like Steve Karp to build a legitimate stadium in an area
where 100 or more baseball and entertainment dates could
make everyone richer" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/14).
TOUGH TALK ON HARRINGTON: In N.Y., Bill Madden wrote
that Harrington "comes off as the biggest hypocrite this
side of last year's market-buster, Jerry Reinsdorf." Madden
noted that Harrington, who oversees the Yawkey Trust, was
one of the hawks during the MLB strike. Madden: "You would
think after surveying the state of the Red Sox, that the
other trustees are beginning to question Harrington's
competence. You can be sure Harrington's fellow baseball
lords finally are" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/14). In Baltimore,
Peter Schmuck wrote that MLB owners "once again, have met
the enemy, and it is themselves." Schmuck: "Harrington is
the guy who should know better. ... He was the guy standing
in front of the cameras calling for economic sanity during
the lengthy players strike" (Baltimore SUN, 12/14). Padres
CEO Larry Lucchino: "It's just further evidence of the flaw.
Three, four, or five clubs can act one way and have a
profound impact on everybody else. It is troubling" (SAN
DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/14). Yankees Owner George
Steinbrenner: "It is crazy. It's scary. What happened
there just astounded me. They took a pretty good pounding
from their fans up there last year" (Fox Sports Net, 12/12).
PAY TO PLAY: Red Sox Exec VP John Buckley indicated
that fans "can expect ticket prices to rise next season."
Buckley: "We've got to look for other areas of revenue --
signage or partnership deals with people who are using
sports marketing for advertising their products." The team
is targeting attendance of 2.5 million for '98, a figure it
has not reached since '91 (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/13).
