BOSTON -- One day after making contact with the agent of Tom Glavine, the Boston Red Sox have decided they won't be in the bidding for the free agent left-hander.

	Tom Glavine Starting Pitcher Free agent Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM W L Sv K ERA 36 18 11 0 127 2.96

The Red Sox placed a call to Glavine's agent, Greg Clifton, on Monday, but the Boston Globe reported in Tuesday's editions that it was little more than a courtesy, signaling no real interest in the pitcher.

Glavine, a native of Billerica, Mass., who's won two Cy Young Awards while spending his entire 16-year career with the Braves, is expected to choose among the Phillies and Mets or re-signing with Atlanta.

Glavine, 36, was scheduled to visit the Mets on Wednesday and the Phillies on Thursday or Saturday, the Globe reported. New York made him a three-year offer Friday worth about $31 million, slightly more than Philadelphia's three-year proposal for between $27 million and $30 million.

Atlanta has offered him a two-year, $18 million contract with a $9 million option for 2005 if he reaches incentives.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox have kept in regular contact with the agent of Cuban defector Jose Contreras and plan to make a major push to sign the pitcher as soon as he becomes a free agent, the Boston Globe reported Tuesday.

Boston is expected to step up its pursuit of Contreras in the next couple of weeks, as agent Jaime Torres makes plans to establish residency in a third country for Contreras, the Globe reported. Contreras is currently in Miami and would be subject to baseball's amateur draft next June if he remains in the United States.

By establishing residency elsewhere, most likely Costa Rica, Contreras will be able to sell his services to the highest bidder, a deal that could fall into place before baseball's winter meetings in mid-December.

Contreras turns 31 next month. He is expected to command the biggest contract yet of the more than 50 players who have defected from Cuba in the last decade, the Globe said, easily eclipsing the $14.5 million, four-year deal the Cleveland Indians gave Danys Baez a couple of years ago.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.