With catcher Victor Martinez' future as a Red Sox up in the air after this season, Martinez' agent, Alan Nero, acknowledged that the offer the team recently made -- a two-year deal - is not what his client is after.

"More than anything else, when a team comes to you and says we'll give you a one year deal or a two year deal, they're not telling you that they see you as a long-term piece of their organization," Nero said.

And a long-term piece is just what Martinez wants to be. The 31-year-old catcher is looking for a deal that will take him through his early 30s, and perhaps could even take him to the end of his career. A two-year deal obviously does not offer that kind of security.

"Every player seeks that. Victor, at this point, is looking to be with a team for the rest of his career. It's not a matter of security, it's a matter of trying to get comfortable in one place. He was a Cleveland Indian his whole career, and he wasn't ecstatic when he got traded. But now that he's a Red Sox, he's gotten used to it, and he cares about the organization, and his teammates," Nero said.

The two sides had agreed before games began that they would not talk until after the season, but the Red Sox came to Martinez with the offer several weeks ago. Once Martinez rejected it, it was not the beginning of a dialogue, Nero said, just a one-time offer, and talks ended there.

"We're not surprised at anything. It's all business. It's not a personal thing. They came in, they made us an offer, we just decided that the offer wasn't suitable at the moment. We'll discuss it again at the end of the season. It's not like we countered and we tried to engage it," Nero said.

Even though the offer was clearly not what Martinez wanted, Nero said that Martinez did not see the offer as insulting, and it did not cause any rift in the relationship between the team and the catcher.

"Not at all, this is business, it's not personal, there's no hard feelings. There's no damage, we'll either pick up where we left off, or we'll start from the beginning. We're negotiating a long-term relationship, it's like a marriage. So we're not going to be getting upset or throwing a tantrum over anything. The bottom line is, Victor would like to say, it's apparent they want to re-sign him, and we'll see how it goes."

After the year ends, Nero expects extensive negotiations to begin, starting with the Red Sox.

"When the season's over, we'll sit down with everyone, and the Red Sox will have every chance to sign him," Nero said.

The offer, first reported by WEEI.com, was unexpected in that the Martinez team expected to talk after the year ended. For the moment, Nero said his client would rather focus on baseball, and leave the negotiating until after the games are done.

"We didn't even think it should be brought up. The last thing we want to do is become a distraction. I think victor would have been happier if it never came up at all," Nero said.
"I don't want to talk about that," Martinez said.

Asked about his desire to stay with the Sox long term, Martinez again demurred.

"Pass," he said with a grin.

Martinez is batting .292 with 14 home runs and 61 RBI, as he finishes the final year of the deal he signed with Cleveland before being traded to Boston.

He missed a month of 2010 with a broken thumb.