BOSTON, Oct. 24 -- The Boston Red Sox shot down a wire report early Sunday evening that suggested starting pitcher Curt Schilling would not be able to make his scheduled Game 6 start, if needed.
"There has been no change" in plans, said Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein. "He's our Game 6 starter. We'll use the same approach, which is to give him a couple of days to recover, then see if he can get on a mound and throw."
In each of Schilling's last two starts, he has undergone a surgical procedure the day before in which a displaced tendon in his ankle is sutured into place. However, the Associated Press report quoted team doctor Bill Morgan as saying the worsening condition of Schilling's right ankle made it unlikely the team would perform the procedure a third time.
"I haven't heard anything of that nature," Manager Terry Francona said. "We'll always evaluate him [between starts], but that's as far as it goes."
Schilling said: "I don't know. I haven't thought about it. . . . We'll see what happens."
Cabrera's Options
When Orlando Cabrera jumped from the Montreal Expos to the Boston Red Sox in a four-team trade at the July 31 trade deadline, he figured he was finished forever with the whole sordid story of the Expos franchise.
But now, Cabrera, the Red Sox' shortstop, is a week away from free agency, and the Expos are settling into a new life in Washington, where they will begin play next season -- if there are no snags -- under new ownership and with a new name.
Cabrera said Sunday he would be interested in returning to the team that signed and developed him, and with whom he spent his entire professional career before July 31.
"I can't say it won't be an option -- I think it will be an option," Cabrera said before Sunday night's Game 2 of the World Series. "But right now, I'm not thinking about it. I'm not even thinking about whether I'm going to come back here [to Boston]."
The Red Sox are expected to make a push to retain Cabrera, who replaced Nomar Garciaparra as the team's shortstop. However, the free agent market is rich in shortstops -- in addition to Cabrera, there is Garciaparra, Edgar Renteria, Barry Larkin, Omar Vizquel and Cristian Guzman.
The Expos should have the capacity to increase their payroll significantly in 2005 -- given the expected revenue increases -- after finishing the 2004 season at about $37 million. However, it remains unclear whether MLB, which still owns the franchise pending its sale, will sign high-profile free agents before the sale goes through.
Cabrera hit .294 with six homers and 31 RBI in 58 games with the Red Sox, but his role was reduced by the presence of so many big-name sluggers. "I don't have to do what I did in Montreal here, because we have Manny [Ramirez] and [David] Ortiz to drive in runners," he said. "I just try to get on base for them."
Cabrera said he has begun to feel comfortable with the Red Sox and will consider that when it comes time to decide on a team this winter.
"They've treated me good here," he said. "It's been incredible for me. It's worked out pretty well for me."
