FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Josh Beckett had no idea about the reports, the ones that stated that the Red Sox have a four-year deal on the table, and that the team was reluctant to go five years because of concerns regarding his right shoulder.

Beckett also said he wasn't aware of many of the details presented in some of the stories, mostly because of the system he has set in place with his agent, Michael Moye, throughout the hurler's negotiations regarding a contract extension. Unless it is urgent, or the perception is that a deal is on precipice of getting done, the 29-year-old is left alone.

"It forces me not to speculate. I let other people speculate. I don't speculate. I go off of what I know and I don't know anything," Beckett said. "I move forward with today.

"(The contract negotiations) really haven't entered my mind at all. I'm not too concerned with it. If it's meant to be and the Red Sox want me to be here then I'll stay here because I enjoy playing in Boston. Playing in front of those fans. I can't imagine going anywhere else. They do everything they can to make us successful as possible and I don't think there are a whole lot of organizations that do that. It's not a knock on them, but it's a testament to how the Red Sox treat their players."

While Beckett couldn't advance any sort of rumblings regarding his negotiations, he did manage to set the record straight when it came to one of the issues that surfaced when trying to pin down the length of any deal: The health of his right shoulder.

The history of any concerns regarding Beckett's pitching shoulder dates back to 2000, when Dr. James Andrews talked him out of having labrum surgery after another medical team had recommended an operation. ("I'll never forget sitting in that doctor's office and overhearing them on the phone saying I needed surgery," he recalled.)

The issue didn't become a bother for Beckett again until following the 2005 season when an insurance company told him that it would offer a policy for the pitcher on everything but his right shoulder. It was a deal that the hurler declined.

"I ended up not getting it because I'm a major league pitcher," he said. "I didn't want them to insure my face."

But since that moment there has been nothing but optimism regarding the pitcher's shoulder, with the most recent news coming in the form of Beckett passing both the team's and the insurance company's physicals early in spring training on the way to finally getting a policy. He was able to re-apply for the policy after pitching more than 700 innings from the outset of his Red Sox career, a number he passed with no problem, currently standing at 843 innings (regular season and post season combined).

"It's a non-issue for me as far as my shoulder goes," he said. "It's not something that I lay in bed and worry about. I'm very blessed to have already pitched eight years in the big leagues and here I am going into my ninth full season. Yeah, I've had some bumps in the road with my shoulder but I only remember one bump in the road that caused me to miss significant time with my shoulder and that was in the minor leagues.

"As far as my shoulder goes I think I'm in a good spot with the way I prepare myself to where I know I've done the work that not only helps me be successful on the mound, but also be successful in staying healthy with my shoulder. If you go up and down this row of lockers, everybody in here that pitches, they've all got nicks in their shoulders and elbows. It's part of the business. What you're looking for is try to get a basis. You do an MRI every other year of some sort to see if there are some changes, and for me I don't think that there are many changes since 2000."

Beckett's right shoulder hasn't caused him to miss any time since arriving with the Red Sox prior to the 2006 season, a sign that the pitcher's program put in place is paying off. 

Still, even with reports of a contract agreement and health concerns circulating, Beckett refuses to focus on anything other than what is going to help him in the here and the now.

"I feel good. But I'm really not worried about five years from now." he said. "I really just need to worry about what I have to do tomorrow. I don't allow myself to get that far ahead, especially five years. I try and keep it day to day. It's not that I set out to be perfect, but I know what causes me to get out of it or go into it. So I try and focus on all the things that help simplify things that help me successful day in and day out.

"This is what you work for. This is why you work the day after Thanksgiving.  All the work that I've put in in this six weeks and the seven or eight weeks before that it's all to prepare me for 30-35 starts, starting Sunday night."