Curt Schilling has agreed to waive his no-trade clause, and accepted a trade to the Boston Red Sox. According to ESPN, after making $12 million in 2004, Schilling will earn $12.5 million in 2005 and $13 million in 2006. Boston has a $13 million option for 2007 that could become guarenteed if Schilling meets certain performance levels.

So there you have it. The Red Sox bagged their babe. What? You didn’t actually think Theo and Company were going to come back empty-handed now did you?

Yankee fans, brace yourself for another loud-mouth ace up in Beantown who is sure to agitate us plenty. Yup, he’ll be tough against the Yankee hitters, but he’s likely to be even more irritating when he flaps his yap in the newspapers. All the same, I’m glad the Yanks didn’t overpay to get him. Jay Jaffe thinks it is OK that New York passed on him as well:

…There are still other reasons to like Schilling in a Red Sox uniform from the Yankee point of view. One is that it would appear to limit Boston’s long-term spending options. They already made a desperate move to free themselves from Manny Ramirez’s contract, and they’re in the final year of Nomar Garciaparra’s and Pedro Martinez’s deals. Handing out $25-40 million in extensions to the new kid in town isn’t likely to be a hit with those two, and it’s also unclear whether Boston would assume responsiblity for the deferred money. Additionally, signing him would likely eliminate the Sox as one of Andy Pettitte’s suitors.

Steinbrenner’s admiration to the contrary, Curt Schilling is not Roger Clemens. He’s a pitcher who’s had two excellent seasons and several good ones over the course of his career, but he’s never won a Cy Young award, let alone six, and he’s got a ways to go to win 200 games. He’s a flyball pitcher, not particularly well suited to Fenway Park, where he hasn’t done too well historically (career 6.04 ERA in 25.1 innings). On the other hand, he’s still a fine pitcher who strikes out more than 10 men per nine innings and has pinpoint control, allowing less than two walks per nine in each of the past four seasons. Though he spent a bit of time on the DL last season, that time was due to an appendectomy and a broken hand, not shoulder or elbow trouble. But as the Yanks found out in the World Series, old pitchers have a nasty habit of breaking down at inopportune times. Let Schilling break down on somebody else’s watch.

Still, he’s a great fit for the Sox, and it was a great move on their part. What will the Yankees cook-up in response? Brace yourself: they’ve got a Sheff eager to jump into the kitchen.