t wasn’t a dream. Carl Crawford, who reached an agreement with the Boston Red Sox late Wednesday night, officially signed a seven-year, $142 million deal on Friday, making him the highest-paid outfielder in baseball, and was formally introduced Saturday morning. No baseball player, or any athlete, should be making that much money. But, putting my opinions on the "business" aspect of the game aside, this is a sensible, aggressive move by a team generating the most noise this offseason.
Battling a cold, Crawford put on his Red Sox jersey and cap, then hoarsely spoke to the media about joining the team.
On staying in the division: “That was important to me, I feel like the American League East is so exciting and the fans are so passionate. I really wanted to stay in the AL East. When I got the call the Red Sox were interested, I really was excited about it.”
On playing in Fenway as a Red Sox:
“I’m definitely ready for that. That’s the one thing that attracted me here. You know it’s going to be sold out, and you know there’s going to be excitement, you know there’s going to be a lot of screaming and hollering and that’s something that gets you up and keeps you going, so that’s definitely one of the things that attracted me here. Instead of getting booed, now they can boo somebody else. I took my share of torture in left field.”
As their left-fielder, he said hopes to join Manny Ramirez, Ted Williams, Carl Yastremski, and Jim Rice, four greats who dealt with the Green Monster on a daily basis and tormented opposing pitchers. With his array of talents, there is no reason to believe he won’t.
Manager Terry Francona said Jacoby Ellsbury will be their leadoff hitter when he is deemed fully healthy, and Crawford didn’t seem to mind. “Whatever he [Francona] wants to do with me is fine,” he said.
In my opinion, I think Boston would be best off hitting Crawford third. They could set the table with Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, put Crawford in run-producing spot. There he could drive in runs and also get on base and score in front of Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis, and David Ortiz. With J.D. Drew, Jared Satalamacchia, and Marco Scutaro rounding out the batting order, Boston’s lineup would feature contact hitters throughout. It would also be lefty, righty, lefty, lefty, righty, lefty, lefty, righty, righty, giving them a nice balance from both sides of the plate that would no doubt strike fear into the hearts of every opposition.
Their defense would be even more impressive with Crawford’s addition. According to Ultimate Zone Rating, an advanced fielding metric, the left fielder ranked as the third-most valuable defensive player in the game last year at any position. Having played in Fenway many times before, he should have no trouble playing ricochets off the 38-foot behemoth.
His contract breakdown is as follows: he will receive $14 million in 2011, $19 million in 2012, $20 million in 2013, and an increase in $250,000 thereafter. There is a limited no-trade clause attached to the deal. He picks two teams; the Red Sox one. Which does Boston choose? The Yankees, of course.
Speaking of the Red Sox' bitter rival, New York is waiting for Cliff Lee‘s decision. Lee, a 32-year-old southpaw deemed to be amongst the best pitchers in baseball, is weighing his options. The Texas Rangers, his former team, has met with him multiple times at his home in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the Yankees have as well. Both teams have given him a menu of offers, with New York being the only of the two to offer him a firm seven years.
The Rangers appear willing to go seven, but on their terms, meaning the seventh would likely be an option or incentive-based. Lee’s representatives have been insistent that his client receive a contract spanning seven years, which I find ludicrous considering Lee’s age. But, given that the Yankees have answered that demand, it’s a good sign for Texas that he’s yet to respond to New York.
As the New York Times’ Michael S. Schmidt and Richard Sandomir document, Bob Simpson, an energy executive who had a hand in purchasing the Rangers as a member of Nolan Ryan’s group, could help Texas meet Lee’s extraordinary asking price. He made his money in the natural gas industry along with Rangers co-owner Ray Davis, and if he is willing to reach into his deep pockets, Lee could be back with Texas before Santa comes to town.
Considering a seven-year contract would cost the Rangers $160 million or thereabouts, the $23 million Lee would receive annually would amount to more than a third of their 2010 payroll, which stood at $65 million. Crawford, three years younger with far less risk attached, didn’t command seven years. When the Red Sox entered the bidding, that’s the team he saw himself playing for. Lee is playing a game with his strongest suitors, hampering them from doing anything else this offseason until his decision is made.
The term "decision" is familiar when it comes to choosing a team. It is reminiscent to that of LeBron James’ hoopla, only slightly so. There isn’t a television special—at least not yet, anyway. Unless he goes down that road, there won’t be an analyst—in James’ case, Jim Gray—who will be paid $500,000 to build suspense and ask the ultimate question.
He is just keeping two teams on their heels, and it’s driving fans like me crazy. Do you want to pay income tax in New York and play in biggest market, or do you want to stay closer to home and play with a team you bonded with during a magical run that culminated in a trip to the World Series?
Do you want to play for the Rangers, a low-key, youthful team that would be built to win for years with him in the fold, or the Yankees, a team that puts unparalleled pressure on its players, is in a large market, has unlimited pocketbooks, and is far from young?
The environments are complete opposites. It can’t be that hard to choose.
This drawn-out process is without a doubt intentional. He wants to keep the baseball world on pins and needles. And as the best free-agent left, baseball’s eyes are on him. The suspense out there to build for some of sports’ elite is too difficult to pass up. And it ends up becoming tiresome and reputation-damaging. As one Leo Brutus fittingly said via Twitter, “Cliff Lee is going to the Miami Heat. Wow. Didn’t see that coming.”
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