Schilling will waive no-trade clause

The Red Sox sent lefty Casey Fossum and righty Brandon Lyon
to the Diamondbacks, along with minor-league pitcher Jorge De La
Rosa and a minor leaguer to be named, reportedly outfielder Michael Goss.

Arizona is trying to cut its payroll from about $94 million to
$80 million.

"I want a chance to win the World Series for the rest of my
career. Who doesn't?" Schilling said earlier this week. "But I'm
in a position to kind of control that."

Schilling had said he would only accept a trade to the Phillies
or the New York Yankees, but Epstein persuaded him to come to
Boston after meeting with him through the holiday and joining the
Schillings for Thanksgiving dinner.

"If we didn't sign Curt, it probably would have been the worst
Thanksgiving of my life," Epstein said. "We tried to refuse, and
Curt said it was a deal-breaker, they would be insulted if we
didn't go."

But the deal was still in doubt when Epstein left Schilling's house after the Thanksgiving dinner, Stark reports.

"When they left last night, I believed the deal was off, and I think Theo did, too," Schilling told Stark. "Their pitch was, 'This is as far as we're going to be able to go.' And when I looked at it, it was unacceptable, and I told them I'd gone as far as I could go, too. To me, at the time, it was clear from Theo's body language that this probably wasn't going to happen."

But then Epstein called Schilling back and told them the Red Sox brass was going to have a conference call and asked if he could call late. Schilling said yes. Epstein then called again at nearly midnight, Arizona time, and said they all wanted to sleep on it.

"When he called in the morning and requested a 24-hour extension to keep negotiating," Schilling said, "that's when I realized we both wanted the same thing -- to get this deal done and get me to the Boston Red Sox."

Before the Red Sox delegation arrived, of course, Schilling had said that it wouldn't be money that kept this deal from getting done. Then in the end, it almost was. That surprised both sides.

"I had a number in mind that I didn't think would be an issue," Schilling told Stark. "And it ended up being an issue. But I don't blame them. They were trying to get the best deal they could for the Boston Red Sox."

Originally, Schilling was skeptical of whether Boston was a place he should go, but he told Stark: "They talked me into it -- with what they said and how they acted. I see a lot of similarities between the Red Sox and Mr. Colangelo. They just have this deep-seated desire to hoist a World Series trophy in Boston."

Schilling also had a lot of initial concerns about issues other players might not be as interested in -- such as the level of detail in advance scouting reports and the amount of video and technological information that would be available. But Schilling told Stark that Epstein and his assistant, Jed Hoyer, were "very impressive."

"Obviously, they were thoroughly prepared, with a thorough understanding of what was important to me as a player," Schilling said. "They answered all of those issues right off the bat. And that made this a lot easier."

Schilling had also been concerned that Fenway Park was unfriendly to
right-handed fly-ball pitchers.

"As far as the park goes," he said, "Pedro made it work, so
I'm going to make it work."

But he was also encouraged by the
possibility of playing again for Terry Francona, his manager in
Philadelphia who is the front-runner for the Red Sox job; he is
expected to be hired next week.

"I have made it known that he would be a reason I'd be
interested in going to Boston," Schilling said Monday. "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."

Boston already had one of the highest payrolls in baseball, but
the chance to add Schilling was too tempting for a team that was
one starter short for most of last year. It could also be insurance
if the Red Sox fail to sign Martinez when his contract expires at
the end of the 2004 season.

Either way, the deal is the biggest Epstein has pulled off since
he took over as Red Sox general manager last winter.

The completion of the Schilling trade is expected to set off some dominos. With their payroll reduced, the Diamondbacks, could trade Jorge De La Rosa -- one of the prospects received from Boston -- to Milwaukee for slugger Richie Sexson, in a deal that will include other players, reports ESPN.com's Buster Olney.

The Red Sox and Arizona reportedly discussed a three-way
trade with the Brewers when talks with Schilling began last week.

And the Yankees will answer shortly. Their priority continues to be re-signing Andy Pettitte, and they continue to talk to free agent Bartolo Colon; club executives talked earlier in the week about acquiring pitchers available in trades, such as Minnesota's Eric Milton, Olney reported.

Schilling returns to an organization that traded him to
Baltimore as a prospect, along with Brady Anderson, for Mike
Boddicker as the Red Sox geared up for the 1988 pennant race.
Boston was swept by the Oakland Athletics, and Schilling developed
into one of the game's top pitchers.

For his career, he is 163-117 with a 3.33 ERA and 2,542
strikeouts. He went 22-6 with 293 strikeouts and a 2.98 ERA in 2001
as the Diamondbacks won the championship, then followed with a 23-7
record, 316 strikeouts and 3.23 ERA the next year.

He finished second both years to Johnson in the NL Cy Young
Award voting.

"Curt Schilling can win a World Series in Boston. If it's in
the stars, then so be it," Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo
said. "Curt was brought here to help us win a World Series, and he
did that. ... He got what he was seeking, and so did we ... a World
Series ring."

But last season, Schilling made just 24 starts and missed six
weeks after breaking a bone in his right hand. He went 8-9 with a
2.95 ERA and struck out 194 batters in 168 innings.

Fossum was 6-5 with a 5.47 ERA for Boston last season and
pitched in eight games at Double-A and Triple-A.

Lyon was 4-6 with a 4.12 ERA in 49 relief appearances for Boston
last year. He was traded to Pittsburgh in July but returned to the
Red Sox the next week after doctors for both teams disagreed on the
condition of his right elbow.

De La Rosa, a lefty, went 6-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 22 games, 20 of
them starts, for Double-A Portland last year. At Triple-A
Pawtucket, he was 1-2 with a 3.75 ERA in five outings, all starts.

Schilling said he would donate $500,000 to the Red Sox's
preferred charity, the Jimmy Fund.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.