Crawford wants out of Tampa?

[Clem Fandango]

Saw this on Rotoworld, haven't...

 

Carl Crawford is reportedly "livid" the Rays picked up his $10 million option on his original four-year deal signed in 2005 and wants out of Tampa Bay.

The report is from Mike Silva's NY Baseball Digest, which is a fine New York baseball blog, but take it with a grain of salt. Says Silva's source: "He had a handshake agreement with management that they would renegotiate the contract instead of picking up the option and they went ahead and did it anyway. He’s pissed beyond belief." It's highly unlikely Crawford is moved during the offseason, but he'd be prime trade bait if the Rays fall out of the race early. We have trouble believing this report, because Crawford agreed to the option. Why include the option if there was an agreement to rip it up? Additionally, he didn't seem to have a problem with the 2009 option being picked up. Crawford is widely expected to command at last $15 million annually once he hits the open market.

 

And saw this blurb on mlbdailydish.com, though I think it's merely speculation at this point...

 

There is certainly a big market for Crawford if he were made available. The Angels, Yankees, and Cubs would all enter the mix, along with a handful of other teams.

[Outshined_One]

I'd be interested, although the fact that he hasn't played CF with any regularity in the majors gives me some pause. However, he's been a good enough defender in LF that I'd imagine he would be a viable option in RF at the very least.

[davell]

The best thing about this, is IF he's actually available, we have another option and wouldn't necessarily have to overpay for Granderson. Play the two teams against each other and take whichever one(assuming they're both truly available) will take the lesser amount of prospects. It doesn't look like there are that many teams out there looking to "buy" this winter as it is, so this could actually bode well for us.

[Clem Fandango]

I would imagine Crawford would cost the most, and would also be one of the premier trade targets of the offseason if he were available. He'd cost us a lot if we were to trade for him. If people think we need to trade Vitters or Castro in a deal to land Granderson, the Rays would probably demand both for Crawford.

[Halman]

I would imagine Crawford would cost the most, and would also be one of the premier trade targets of the offseason if he were available. He'd cost us a lot if we were to trade for him. If people think we need to trade Vitters or Castro in a deal to land Granderson, the Rays would probably demand both for Crawford.

 

I don't see the Rays wanting Vitters but I'd still do it.

[Derwood]

I would imagine Crawford would cost the most, and would also be one of the premier trade targets of the offseason if he were available. He'd cost us a lot if we were to trade for him. If people think we need to trade Vitters or Castro in a deal to land Granderson, the Rays would probably demand both for Crawford.

 

I don't see the Rays wanting Vitters but I'd still do it.

 

not when they have a 24 year old, All-Star, Gold Glove 3B already

[Tryptamine]

I would imagine Crawford would cost the most, and would also be one of the premier trade targets of the offseason if he were available. He'd cost us a lot if we were to trade for him. If people think we need to trade Vitters or Castro in a deal to land Granderson, the Rays would probably demand both for Crawford.

 

No one is asking for both Vitters and Castro for one year of Crawford. I'm not even willing to part with one of them unless the Cubs get to extend Crawford.

[Clem Fandango]

I would imagine Crawford would cost the most, and would also be one of the premier trade targets of the offseason if he were available. He'd cost us a lot if we were to trade for him. If people think we need to trade Vitters or Castro in a deal to land Granderson, the Rays would probably demand both for Crawford.

 

No one is asking for both Vitters and Castro for one year of Crawford. I'm not even willing to part with one of them unless the Cubs get to extend Crawford.

 

And I agree, but sadly I'm pretty sure that most of the GM's would overvalue Crawford because of his SB potential. SB's are sexy, and Carl Crawford is the sexiest of the sexy because aside from stealing truckloads of bases, he's pretty good at everything else required of a baseball player, whereas guys like Juan Pierre have one skill only...

 

But look at what we gave up for one year of Juan Pierre... now pretend Juan Pierre was good at hitting and defense and imagine what we'd have to give up for one year of him, because that's what Crawford represents.

 

And why wouldn't they take Vitters even though they have Longoria? They could always use a DH, or groom him to play another position, or at the very least use him as a premier bargaining chip

 

EDIT: Doesn't really matter, appears to be a nonsense rumor...

 

Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times doesn't think a report from Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest that suggests Carl Crawford wants out of Tampa Bay has any merit.

While Smith didn't get an official word from the team, he writes that the unattributed report doesn't match up with what both sides have been saying all along. "I hope we can get something done, but if not I'll just go into next season, do what I have to do and try to help the team win and go from there," Crawford said in September. As recently as this week, Crawford's agent Brian Peters said that they were still looking forward to a potential long-term deal, while Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman said both sides were "very interested" in an extension when they picked up Crawford's $10 million option on Monday. It won't take long for this rumor to get thoroughly and thankfully debunked.