Red Sox Swoop In, Sign Crawford

Only days after completing the trade that brought slugger Adrian Gonzalez to Boston, the Red Sox have struck again.  The Boston Globe is reporting that the team has inked former Rays outfielder Carl Crawford to a 7-year deal worth $142 million.

It’s a huge amount of money, and an investment above and beyond what Boston might have preferred.  But the current free agent market had its expectations realigned when the Washington Nationals signed former Phillie Jayson Werth to a 7-year, $126M contract.  With that deal set, the teams bidding on the market’s remaining big names knew that they had to act swiftly and decisively.

Reports throughout the week suggested that Crawford would go to the Los Angeles Angels, a team with plenty of available money and a desperate need for marquee players.  But when the Red Sox saw the Angels’ interest heating up, they apparently elected to make an offer that couldn’t be refused.

Nothing has been officially announced, but if this deal proves true, Crawford, who turned 28 in August, will be under Boston’s control through 2017.  He would be 36 years old at the end of that season.

The versatile outfielder brings an array of talents to the top of the batting order, though whether he will bat leadoff remains to be seen.  Crawford is a lifetime .296 hitter with a .337 on-base percentage and career OPS of .781.  But those numbers have increased considerably in recent seasons.

Crawford has posted an OPS of .800 or better in 5 of his last 6 season, hit 30 or more doubles 3 times, led the A.L. in triples 3 times during that span, and led in stolen bases twice.  His one “poor” year was 2008, during which he missed significant time due to injury.

One of the game’s most electrifying players, Crawford brings strong defensive skills and and a very dangerous bat to an already stacked Boston lineup.

Keep this in mind:  Despite all of the team’s injuries last season, the Red Sox still finished with the second most runs in the American League.  Considering that the team has since added 2 of the best players in the game, the sky is the limit for the 2011 offense.

The organization’s biggest problems are now these:

1. Whom to bat leadoff–Neither Crawford nor Jacoby Ellsbury is a true leadoff hitter, and there remains an outside chance that the team will try to move Ellsbury as part of a trade package.

2. How to afford its young talent–With Josh Beckett and John Lackey already sporting huge contracts, the additions of Crawford and Gonzalez beg the question of how the team will be able to keep its core intact, long-term.  Jon Lester is already arbitration eligible and becomes a free agent in 2013.  Clay Buchholz will begin arbitration eligibility in 2011.  Kevin Youkilis is under contract only through 2013.  And those are just the current stars…The second question here is whether or not the Sox will be willing to meet Gonzalez’s extension demands now that so much cash is already in play.

3. Will there be enough dough left to fix the bullpen– All the hitting in the world can’t keep the opponent from scoring.  The bullpen still needs to be re-tooled, and the Sox are still saddled with Jonathan Papelbon’s $11 million salary.

Still, these are nice problems to have.  For the near future at least, the team couldn’t be in a much better position offensively.  The lineup should be the best in baseball with the 2 newest Sox in play.

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