In talks prior to acquiring Adrian Gonzalez in a trade with the Padres, the Red Sox were told by the first baseman that he wouldn't change his contract demands if Albert Pujols sets the market in the interim. That was a key part of the talks for the Red Sox, who were concerned that Pujols would sign a contract worth more than $30 million annually and increase Gonzalez's price. "I made a comment to [Red Sox general manager] Theo [Epstein], 'Make the trade happen by itself, and I promise you during the season I'll negotiate,' " Gonzalez told ESPNBoston.com. "I'm not going to come here and be like, 'OK, we'll see you at free agency and see if you outbid the other teams.' We'll negotiate during the season. We're going to be fair. We won't be looking for record-breaking deals. We just want market value. "We gave them our word that we were going to negotiate during the season in good faith. We're not going to go in there and ask for Albert Pujols' contract, something along those lines."