Carl Crawford hasn't even played one week's worth of baseball games for the Boston Red Sox this season, and he has already been tossed into the rumor mill. According to a report from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Red Sox are "gauging interest" for their expensive left fielder, but a trade does not appear imminent.
The Boston Red Sox are contacting teams to gauge their trade interest in Crawford, according to major-league sources. No trade appears close. Such a deal would be difficult to accomplish, given the size of Crawford's contract and his lingering elbow problems. But the first lesson of the July 31 non-waiver deadline is that nothing is impossible. (via FOX Sports)
Rosenthal reports that the Red Sox have reached out to both the Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers about possible trades. Ben Cherington, the General Manager of the Red Sox, said the following about Crawford's availability.
"There's nothing going on with Carl,"he said (via FOX Sports). "He's our left fielder and we're glad to have him back in our lineup."
Crawford is batting .571 with an RBI in his first two games back from wrist and groin injuries that kept the pricey outfielder out of action for the first half of the season. Crawford signed a monster deal -- $142 million over seven years -- with the Red Sox not even one year ago.
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