Schilling is not happy with the Red Sox:
Quote:
Schilling left little doubt that he feels the Red Sox have him embarked on the wrong course of medical treatment. He also disputed any questions about the appropriateness of him collecting on the $8 million contract he signed with the Sox last November, noting that he had passed a physical and MRI.
"Something happened,'' said Schilling, who said he began throwing in mid-December, felt some discomfort, shut down for a couple of weeks, then felt "intense" pain when he resumed throwing in January, far worse than anything he experienced last season, when he was on the disabled list for seven weeks with what was described as biceps tendinitis. "If some people want to believe this was me taking advantage of the situation financially, I wouldn't be doing it here. I would have done it for $14 million in at least two other places, if I was going to sit on my ass on the DL and collect a paycheck.
"So I know that for a fact. People are going to believe what they want to believe. I was healthy at the time.''
Schilling likened the situation to the first time he had shoulder surgery in 1995, when he said he was misdiagnosed by the Phillies and that a team trainer recommended him to shoulder specialist Dr. Craig Morgan, who performed surgery on Schilling at that time.
"Here I am, 14 years later, and he (Morgan) was right every time,'' Schilling said. "This guy has been cutting edge forever. He's always been way ahead of the bell curve. He's an orthopedic surgeon, but that's like saying he's a major league player. He's Papelbon, a specialist, a shoulder specialist, that's what he does. "But they (the Red Sox) disagreed. And at the end of the day, I hear one doctor say one thing, another doctor say something different, and a third doctor say something completely different. I'm probably as lost as anybody.''
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Extra Bases - Red Sox blog
Schilling does raise a good point about his integrity here. If he were truly interested in hoodwinking a team into giving him a contract when he knew he couldn't play, then why would he re-sign with the Red Sox for one year and $8 million? He easily could have signed with some other team for 2 years/$30 million and collected even more money while he sits comfortably at home.
What I don't understand is why he seems upset about the Red Sox preferring rehab to surgery. Sure it might not work (his doctor gives it a "zero percent chance" of success), but it's his only remote hope of pitching this season and not being a total waste of team payroll. Surgery would potentially end his career, and at the very least, shut him down for the entire season. If this is truly his last year, why would he want to foreclose the possibility of ever pitching again?
The Red Sox have a decent chance of winning the World Series. His best shot at another ring is to somehow make it back by September so that he can toss an inning or two and pick one up Royce Clayton-style.
If I were the Red Sox, I'd find a way to get him into a game regardless as to his shoulder. He's meant a lot to this franchise and it would be nice to make him a part of this year's team, even if just nominally. He could pinch-hit for David Ortiz in the final game of the regular season. It would be a neat way to go out.