Boston Red Sox

Buster Olney of ESPN is reporting that the New York Yankees will now take an aggressive approach in signing free agent catcher Russell Martin. 

The Red Sox were originally favored to land Martin, but after the Carl Crawford deal the Yankees have stepped up their efforts to try and sign him.

Last season the Boston Red Sox won 89 games in what was predicted to be a "bridge year" for the franchise.  The constant storyline throughout the Sox season was injuries.  With various ailments affecting the young core of Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury, the Red Sox were lucky to approach 90 wins.

With a disappointing season in the books and a rich free agent class, the Red Sox were hoping for Theo Epstein to make a splash in free agency to improve the team.

A better word to describe this offseason's transactions so far is cannonball.

Since the Boston Red Sox recent free agent signing of outfielder Carl Crawford, all I've been reading is people saying that the Sox now have a surplus of outfielders and guys like Jacoby Ellsbury are now "prime trade bait".

With that in mind, lets take a look at the current outfield situation and what it may look like for 2012 as well.

Part of being a sportswriter these days is always being on top of your stuff.

I check my e-mail constantly. I’m on Twitter all day. I don’t sleep as much or as well as I used to since I’m always afraid that if I go to bed too early or sleep in too late, I might miss something important.

Carl Crawford has signed a seven-year, $142 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. He joins Adrian Gonzalez as the second huge catch the Red Sox have landed this offseason.

The Red Sox are clearly going for it all this year.

Whenever the hot stove heats up with a flurry of blockbuster deals occurring within such a short period of time, it's only natural that a number of subsequent questions arise.

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The big news today is that the Boston Red Sox massively overpaid for former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder, speed demon Carl Crawford. $126 million over 7 years. Whether or not you think that Crawford is worth that kind of money, one thing's for sure: The Red Sox are likely out of the running for Washington Nationals outfielder Josh Willingham, who once again is rumored to be on the trading block.

There is a certain logic to why the Washington Nationals splurged on Jayson Werth, even if it is a faulty logic. But what was the logic of the Boston Red Sox snagging Carl Crawford for seven years at $142 million? The guy is good, but is he that good?

The MLB winter meetings have a lot of fans glued to their technology of choice. Twitter, ESPN, XM Radio, the Internet in general are all being utilized to absorb every nugget of info on the dealings going on in Orlando. 

So, lying in bed last night, with my headphones on pumping MLB Network Radio into my ears and my smart phone in my hand to comb tweets, I was made aware of the Red Sox stunning signing of Carl Crawford almost as soon as it happened. 

In the wake of Red Sox GM Theo Epstein channeling his inner Daniel Snyder and finally winning an off-season I find it interesting how investing somewhere around $300 million in your offense can make your fans forget what the real problem was last year-pitching and defense.  

Carl Crawford agreed to a seven-year, $142 million deal with the Boston Red Sox late last night. The signing gives Boston the premier offensive player on the free agent market and is a major blow to the rival New York Yankees, who were also anticipated to pursue Crawford.