MEDFIELD, Mass. (AP) – Drew Bledsoe is finally unloading his old digs – to new Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.

Schilling confirmed that he’s buying the former New England Patriots quarterback’s 20-room, 26-acre estate in this affluent suburb southwest of Boston.

The property has been on the market since August 2002, after Bledsoe was traded to the Buffalo Bills. It was originally listed for nearly $9 million, but by the fall the price had dropped to $6.5 million. Schilling said he paid “much less” than $6.5 million but declined to give the final sale price.

The three-level mansion includes a home theater, a wine cellar, a spa with hot tub, a sauna, an exercise room and a billiard room with a mahogany bar opening to a pool area adorned with a waterfall.

It also has plenty of space for kids. Both Schilling and Bledsoe have three sons and a daughter.

“We both have the same interests, same hobbies, same ideas for a home,” Schilling said in a telephone interview.

The home is more than 20 miles from Fenway Park. But Schilling said he doesn’t mind the commute. He usually leaves at 1 p.m. for a 7 p.m. game, giving him plenty of time to get through traffic.

“I don’t need to be right next to the park,” he said. “I enjoy the ride in and out sometimes.”

Schilling shouldn’t have any trouble footing the bill for the new house. He will make at least $12 million under the last year of his contract with Arizona and agreed to a two-year extension through 2006 worth $25.5 million.

Bledsoe owns at least two other homes, including one in the Buffalo area and one near Portland, Ore., where his wife’s family lives.