Jacoby Ellsbury, who will be a free agent after the 2013 season, says he wouldn't find in-season discussions to be a distraction.

Ellsbury pointed out that a large part of the talks would be between his agent, Scott Boras, and the Boston Red Sox front office.

"I know that [the Red Sox] talk [to Boras] not just about me but other guys [on the team]. I know there's always that constant communication. But if there's something to be discussed regarding me and the future, that's when it's brought to my attention — not every little conversation," said Ellsbury. "There might be talks that I won't know every little detail, but if there's something, a decision to be made, that's when I would get involved and go from there."

Ellsbury suggests that he has loved the experience of playing in Boston and with the Red Sox, the organization that made him its first-round pick in 2005 and with whom he has now played his entire career.

"Being the team that drafted me in 2005, the team I first got to play for, they've given me the opportunity. I got to win a World Series my first year. I've been playing for a great, storied franchise. I couldn't ask for anything more," he said.

"I definitely have been very grateful and very excited to put on a Red Sox uniform every single day. I feel very fortunate to have done that for my whole career. It's pretty neat. It's been eight years — not a lot of people can say they've been in the same uniform for eight years. That's pretty special for me."