Carl Crawford Signs Monster Contract With Boston Red Sox

Yeah, I know, we’ve been a little Carl Crawford-heavy over the past two days but now we can finally put an end to all the speculation.

Well, I guess we were all wrong about what kind of money the Boston Red Sox had laying around. The 29-year-old left fielder threw us all a curveball late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning by agreeing to a staggering seven-year, $142 million contract with the Sox.

Earlier on Wednesday sources said Crawford was leaning towards signing with the Los Angeles Angels, before abruptly changing course.

This deal is ridiculous for a number of reasons. The No. 1 reason is the fact that the Sox already have J.D. Drew, Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury signed for next season. If you include the $20 million (average per year of the deal) that Crawford will make next year, then add in Drew’s deal ($14 million) and Cameron’s ($7.75 million) that is $41.75 million owed to just three players, plus Ellsbury whose deal is yet to be determined.

There are only three spots in the outfield and Boston’s will make $41.75 million without Ellsbury in the lineup.

Just for fun, the San Diego Padres ($37.8 million) and Pittsburgh Pirates ($34.9 million) had entire payrolls making less than that. Hell, the Padres are increasing their payroll for next season and the entire roster will still make less than Boston’s outfield.

That, my friends, is insane.

In related news, the San Diego Padres have signed Aaron Harang, Dustin Moseley and traded for Jason Bartlett.

Um, hooray for parity in baseball!