Wakefield’s agent, Barry Meister, spoke to reporters at the general managers meetings in Milwaukee, and he made it clear that not only will Wakefield pitch in 2012, he’ll be effective.
“Tim’s going to play again, absolutely,” Meister said, according to The Boston Globe. “I hope it’s with Boston and I’ve expressed that to them. I feel strongly that he can pitch and pitch effectively whether it’s in a starter’s role or in that hybrid role. I just think if he didn’t pitch for the Boston Red Sox it would be a shame. If not, we’ve got a lot of teams that have called and we’re entertaining their offers.”
Meister also indicated that there are multiple teams, “a lot,” in fact, that are supposedly interested in bringing in the 45-year-old.
The agent also seemed to indicate that Wakefield would rather remain in Boston, but he can still be successful elsewhere.
“He loves being a Red Sock and he loves being a baseball player,” Meister said, according to the Globe. “If for some reason they don’t feel like he can play, well he’s going to win 15 games somewhere else and show them that, once again, they’ve underestimated him.”
Meister also thinks that Wakefield could prove that by moving to the National League, where his knuckleball would be even more effective as a pitch the NL isn’t used to seeing.
Still, Meister stressed that Wakefield does want to be back in Boston, and he wants to win another World Series before leaving baseball.
“I think he realized that he could still be effective,” Meister said when asked about Wakefield’s declaration that 2011 would likely be his last season. “I think he realizes that there’s more to be done. My guess is he wants to play one more year. My guess is if he signed with the Red Sox today, he’d probably announce at the same time that this was it and he was going to go out with a parade. That’s what he wants.”
Wakefield went 7-8 with a 5.12 ERA last season, following a up a 2010 season in which he posted a 5.34 ERA, two totals that were his highest since a career-high 5.48 mark in 2000. Wakefield, who has bounced back and forth between the starting rotation and the bullpen (primarily in a mop-up role), made 33 appearances last season, 23 of which were starts.
He’s spent the last 17 seasons with the Red Sox after coming to Boston from Pittsburgh in 1995. Wakefield is just six wins away from tying Cy Young and Roger Clemens for the franchise record.
“I have another goal in front of me that I’d like to accomplish, and that’s the all-time record for the Red Sox in wins,” Wakefield told FoxSports in late September. “I’m only seven away. I think the fans deserve an opportunity to watch me chase that record. We’ll see what happens.”
