As you guys know the Red Sox signed Carl Crawford to the Red Sox this past offseason. What you might not know is that the Sox have had their eye on him for a good amount of time. Theo Epstein the General Manager of the Sox has had scouts watching Crawford on and off the field during the 2010 season even went as far to say “as if we were private investigating him.” Then went back to say that was a bad choice of words.
Well it looks like this creeped Crawford out a bit about Epstein watching him. Not only on but off the field but I would say that this is necessary when you about to sign a player to a seven-year deal worth $124 Million the largest contract the Sox have ever issued.
"I thought that was a little weird," Crawford said Tuesday. "I guess that's what they have to do when they're making that kind of investment."
After hearing of these comments and the media’s reaction to them, Epstein sent an E-mail out that read, "Our scouts just did a real thorough job on background, that's all. [We] felt like we got to know him real well, that's all. I told him we got to know him real well and we really respected the decisions he made, even away from the park. We told him we trusted him with a long-term contract because of his work ethic and his decision-making, so we'd be involved in the bidding."
As we know the Red Sox have had players in the past that have not been model citizen or model players such as Derek Lowe, Manny Ramirez, or Mo Vaughn. Seven years is a long commitment and you don’t want a guy who will cause problems in the club house on your team so this may have been the best course of action. This isn’t always the best thing to do without letting the player know what you are doing.
"I didn't say nothing, but I'm from an area where if somebody's doing that to you, they're not doing anything good," Crawford said. "I get paranoid when I hear those kind of stories, so I definitely take a different approach when I do things now. It did have an effect on me, let me put it that way."
We are still a month out from opening day and Crawford has not even had an at bat in a Red Sox uniform and it has lefty a strange filling on him. This kind of situation normally doesn’t happen they try to keep information in house. Epstein is normally like a vault nothing comes out of him but Epstein talking about the situation on WEEI should not have happened. This should have a private conversation with Crawford.
"I definitely look over my shoulder now a lot more than what I did before," he said. "Just when he told me that, the idea of him following me everywhere I go, was kind of, I wasn't comfortable with that at all. I don't know how they do it, how much distance they keep from you when they watch you the whole time. I definitely check my back now, at least 100 yard radius. I'm always looking over my shoulder now. Now I look before I go in my house. I'd better not see anything suspicious now."
Hopefully this relationship between Crawford and Epstein does not go sour as they will be working together for a long time now.
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