The Crawford Mystery

When the Red Sox signed Carl Crawford to a 7-year, 142 million dollar contract, most people, myself included, thought it was way too high a price to pay. The money issue is what made people scratch their heads. But nobody said that Crawford was a bad player. On the contrary, the Red Sox were getting a four-time All-Star who, at 29, was coming off a season in which he belted 19 homers, drove in 90 runs, scored 115 times, stole 47 bases while hitting .307. That's a good player.
This season a different player was in Carl Crawford's uniform. Despite being surrounded by solid hitters and playing in the same league and division as he did with Tampa Bay, Crawford hit just .255 with 11 homers and 56 RBI's. More alarming, he stole just 18 bases and scored only 65 runs. Drop-offs across the board. Plus, his fielding went south, especially in September when there were muffs and misplays.
To make matters worse for Boston, he made 14-million this season. His salary escalates yearly and he is owed another 128-million over the next six seasons.
He certainly could turn it around next year and be the player he is capable of. Most good players have a bad season or two. Or, the Red Sox fans could be on him from day one and make his season miserable again.
Why did Crawford flop this year? Who knows. Was it the pressure of trying to live up to such a huge contract? Did he just not fit in with his teammates? The pressure of playing in the fish bowl known as Boston? Was it simply an off year? Or did he get the big money and relax and not work as hard as he did in the past? A combination of all of the above.
Bottom line is Carl Crawford had an awful season by his standards and is one of the reasons why the Red Sox will not participate in October baseball. And, the irony is that his former team, the Rays will.