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Sox Nab Crawford, Willingness To Spend No Longer Questioned

December 9, 2010 By

The Red Sox made a surprising signing last night, agreeing to terms with former Tampa outfielder Carl Crawford on a seven year contract that will pay out about $142 million over that span.

Peter Abraham and The Boston Globe were the first to report this story last night around midnight.

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With Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez on board, it’s been a productive (and expensive) week for the Red Sox.  You’d think they’d be using their own outlet, NESN to pump up this news, but I go the following email this morning from a reader:

Bruce,
Can’t believe what I’m seeing right now… While CSNNE went live at 1:00am with a live report on the Crawford signing… NESN at 5:30 am still is running a repeat from the day before where they predict Crawford signing with the Angels!! The Red Sox’s own network… Shame on them… At least run a commercial inside of misinformation!!!!
Dave B

If true, that’s a dropped ball by NESN.

I did get a note from NESN that there will be a special edition of Red Sox Hot Stove LIVE tonight at 6 PM with Tom Caron, Jerry Remy and Peter Gammons. The program will include a one-on-one interview with Red Sox Executive Vice President/General Manager Theo Epstein.
 
The show will be the fifth Red Sox Hot Stove Live show that NESN has produced since Saturday.

Sox sign up Crawford for $142m – Here is Abraham’s story in the Globe today.

How Carl Crawford could transform the Red Sox - Alex Speier looks at how Crawford will impact the Boston lineup. Art Martone says that with Crawford, the Red Sox lineup lacks for nothing.

Red Sox to ink Carl Crawford - Gordon Edes notes that Crawford is the first player in the John Henry era to be given a seven year contract.

Crawford signing virtually the perfect move for Red Sox - Brian MacPherson approves the move.

Peppers piqued Pats interest but Bears won out - Tom E Curran says that you can blame Adalius Thomas for the Patriots not signing Julius Peppers.

Patriots must bear down against this line - Greg A Bedard says that the Bears will be a stiff test for the Patriots.

This is not your father’s Soldier Field - Mark Farinella has the Patriots making their first trip to Soldier Field since 2000.

Faulk a patient Patriot while knee heals - Andy Vogt has Kevin Faulk trying to support his teammates during his rehab.

Celtics defense continues to dominate - A Sherrod Blakely has the Celtics cranking up the defense against the Denver Nuggets.

Kevin Garnett shows again why he’s The Big Ticket - Steve Bulpett looks at another big performance from KG.

As a heads up, things might be a little inconsistent around here for the next few weeks. My dad had a heart attack the other night, and my wife is set to give birth to our second son here in the next couple weeks. There’s a lot to do around here, but I’ll do my best to keep things rolling here on the site as well.

Filed Under: Morning Links
  • APimpNamedDaveR

    First, I sincerely hope both your dad and your wife do great in the next few weeks, Bruce!

    Now…. Mazz. I know it's masochistic (Mazzochistic?), but I need to talk about that Mazz column today. It's not so much that it's wrong or inaccurate — in fact, it makes some reasonable points.

    It's the incessant need for him to prove ex post facto that he was right that's reeeeeeeeaaaaalllllllly starting to grate on me. "They heard you loud and clear." NO, NO, NO , A THOUSAND TIMES NO, MAZZ. If you LISTENED to what Theo et al. have been saying for the past FIVE YEARS, you'd know that this has been the plan all along. Target the players you want. Acquire them either financially (i.e. via free agency) or by using developed depth in the farm system (i.e. via trade). Acquire those players with a lineup and an overall offensive/defensive philosophy in mind, not blindly in order to just 'do something'. Don't overpay for players who don't fit in with the timeline or the philosophy.

    Crawford is a franchise-level talent — he's more or less a slightly inferior version of the pre-steroid Barry Bonds. Only foolish teams wouldn't at least inquire about him. I'm sure we'll learn in the near future that part of the Bay negotiations involved looking at who would be available this offseason (Crawford, possibly Holliday) and comparing the investment in Bay to an equivalent investment in a future FA. Because that's how Theo works — with an eye on the big picture, not in reactionary spasms.

    So Mazz's premise is completely and utterly wrong. The Red Sox made these moves because they fit within their organizational philosophy. Had they not, the moves wouldn't have been made (see, e.g., Jason Bay). NOTHING relating to ratings, or fan grumbling, or ANYTHING other than the baseball philosophy of the organization went into this decision. And that is why the Red Sox continue to win.

    But that wouldn't make Mazz look like a seer, so of course he has to assert that it was all the issues that HE pointed out in past columns that led to this action. Sure. Whatever.

    • Sum Guy

      I don't agree with that at all.Crawford is not a Theo type player. The organization did hear the grumblings of the fans, saw the declining ratings on NESN, saw (and are seeing) the Pats pass them in the hearts and minds of the fans in the area and said as much when Werner came out and said no bridge year this year.

      Am I glad they picked up Crawford? Absolutely. But don't think the decision to sign him wasn't at least partially motivated by declining interest.

      • mandb97

        Are you sure about that? I do not mean to go all statistical but Crawford had an OBP of 356 and OPS of 851 and an OPS+ of 134 and had almost 300 total bases. I think he is an ideal player for Epstein.

    • arp

      First, concur with everyone in wishing Bruce good luck in dealing with these issues related to family.

      As to Mazz, I am reminded of the following saying in that "ignorance is curable but stupidity is forever" and he has crossed from ignorance to stupitidy when it comes to Texeira and his obsession to be right.

      Also, who was it that said, if you think like those in the seats, that is where you will end up. Sure this organization will make mistakes (as everyone, apparently except Mazz, does) but I believe they do look short term & long-term as to what is best for the team. Moreover, sometimes you do take a step back in order to go two steps forward and I have no problem with that.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691753928 Alex Reveliotty

    good luck with everything Bruce – wishing you the best

  • mandb97

    Good luck Bruce, I hope everything works out for you and your family.

  • 02062

    Bruce, thoughts and prayers with you and yours.

  • Bomber

    You are in my thoughts and prayers.

  • Lance_

    Bruce – take care. This is the best local site for sports and the media but it pales in importance to what's going on. Here's hoping for the best for you.

  • DenverAl

    Bruce, hope your dad is doing well, and good luck to you and your wife on the impending new mouth to feed! You have a lot of friends on here pulling for you.

  • the Big E

    Bruce, pray all goes well for you, your Dad and your wife.
    Take care

  • Snuffy Smith

    With the Jets game over and the Sox restocked, hopefully the sports scene will quiet down for a while. Hope all goes well with your family in the next few weeks. We'll keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

  • Tom

    Hope all works out great for you and yours, Bruce. Happy holidays and thanks for another great year.

  • Alan

    "Willingness To Spend No Longer Questioned." I've seen that headline after the signings of John Lackey, JD Drew, Foulke and Schilling, Johnny Damon, Manny, and many others (Jack Clark too). We will see the willingness to spend question come back when they miss out on next year's free agent or let a player go.

    • APimpNamedDaveR

      Yep. Circle of life. This time next year, it will be "the Sox were willing to spend $300M on Crawford/Gonzalez…. why won't they spend $15M/year to get Prince Fielder to DH? Because they're not willing to spend the money it takes to compete with the Yankees." And on it will go…..

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