NEW YORK (KRT) – George Steinbrenner can’t wait until the games start to exact his revenge against the Red Sox.

Making a swift and bold decision Friday, the Yankees’ principal owner presented a four-year, $50 million offer to Pedro Martinez, according to a major league source.

Talks have intensified between the sides to the point where Martinez must now seriously consider joining the club he called “my daddy” after a frustrating September defeat.

In one stunning move, The Boss has changed the winter landscape – forcing the Red Sox to make a large counteroffer and possibly prompting the Arizona Diamondbacks to speed up the process of trading Randy Johnson.

Even if the Yanks sign Martinez, Steinbrenner is still determined to add Johnson in a trade involving Javier Vazquez.

Less than a month after the Yankees’ stunning AL Championship Series loss to Boston, the anger inside Steinbrenner – who had been virtually silent in public since the Yankees’ final out – has just begun to bubble.

The Boss’ shocking move on Pedro was made independently of the Yankees’ Bronx-based front office, with general manager Brian Cashman and top adviser Gene Michael said to strongly oppose such a deal.

Cashman did not return phone calls Friday, and Martinez’s agents did not return a message.

Boston club president Larry Lucchino and GM Theo Epstein flew to Florida for a scheduled meeting with their star right-hander Wednesday. On Tuesday, a meeting between the pitcher and his agents with Yankees’ Tampa officials “went well,” according to Steinbrenner’s statement.

Following the World Series, the Red Sox offered Pedro a two-year, $27.5 million contract with a $13 million vesting option for 2007.

Steinbrenner has swooped in before the Sox could negotiate a better offer.

Imagine such a surreal scenario at Boston’s home opener, as Pedro watches the Red Sox unfurl their first world championship flag since 1918 while standing with his new Yankees teammates.

The first Red Sox-Yanks meeting will happen March 7, at Boston’s spring training site in Fort Myers, Fla.

By then, his World Series ring might already be in the mail.

While the majority of Yankees fans would rather embrace a cactus than welcome him into pinstripes, members of the club have sung a different tune.

Earlier Friday, Alex Rodriguez became the latest and most hopeful Yankee voice to express his wish of seeing Martinez on his side.

“To play with Pedro is one of the dreams I still have yet to accomplish, but we’ll see,” Rodriguez said in an interview with Dominican Republic television station CDN-37.

“I’ve been in the major leagues for 10 years and for me, the best pitcher I’ve seen is Pedro Martinez,” A-Rod said. “He is a genius with the ball, has incredible discipline and knowledge of baseball. I respect him a lot.”

However, at age 33, he has become a six-to-seven inning starter who hits the wall at 100 pitches.

And the Yankees will test his discipline. Under Steinbrenner’s rules, Martinez would have to cut his long, curly locks, shave his goatee and keep his miniature friend – Nelson De la Rosa – out of the clubhouse.

Martinez can also expect manager Joe Torre to frown upon using the All-Star break as a mini-vacation, squeezing a few extra days for himself in the Dominican.

Torre also won’t tolerate his occasional habit of leaving the clubhouse before a game ends.

In a diplomatic response to the question of Pedro in pinstripes, Torre Thursday endorsed his addition to an Associated Press reporter in Dallas.

“Pedro is one of the elite pitchers in baseball,” Torre said. “As a manager, you want all the toys on the shelf.”

A day before, Mike Mussina said Martinez would be accepted. “If he’s in our clubhouse, he’s going to be one of our teammates,” Mussina said.

Even Jorge Posada – possibly the angriest of Yankees when it comes to Martinez, with the feelings capped by the 2003 ALCS brawl that saw the Boston player toss coach Don Zimmer to the ground – believes that everyone will get along.

But Martinez could be going against his own post-World Series words, when he told the Boston Globe: “I promise I’m not going to the Yankees. I want to stay right here.”

A Cy Young Award winner in 1999 and 2000, Martinez won World Series Game 3 against St. Louis. He has a 182-76 lifetime record with a 2.71 ERA. Last year, he went 16-9 (3.90) with 227 strikeouts in 217 innings.

If he signs with the Yankees, the Red Sox would instantly increase their role as the favorite to sign Carl Pavano, the right-handed, New England-bred free agent starter.

Still, Pavano is scheduled to meet with Yankees brass after Thanksgiving.2004 season in review

Mountain Valley finished the season with 13 straight wins, after losing the season-opening game.

n Sept. 3: York 14, Mtn. Valley 6

n Sept. 11: Mtn. Valley 39, Greely 6

n Sept. 11: Mtn. |Valley 39, Greely 6

n Sept. 17: Mtn Valley 24, Gorham 14

n Sept. 24: Mtn Valley 53, Lake Region 6

n Oct. 1: Mtn Valley 51, Poland 0

n Oct. 9: Mtn Valley 28, Wells 12

n Oct. 15: Mtn Valley 49, Fryeburg 6

n Oct. 22: Mtn Valley 54, Falmouth 0

n Oct. 29: Mtn Valley 53, Leavitt 6

n Nov. 5: Mtn Valley 24, York 6

n Nov. 13: Mtn Valley 14, Gorham 8

n Nov. 20: Mtn Valley 21, Winslow 7