Angels Stand As Favorites To Sign Carl Crawford

Free agent outfielder Carl Crawford and his agent had an extending meeting with the Yankees on Tuesday, with the team presumably expressing its interest in bringing Crawford to New York. However, the buzz around the game is that Crawford is almost certain to sign with the Angels.

The Angels have a lot of money to spend this offseason, and have been linked to Crawford, Rafael Soriano, Adrian Beltre, and Cliff Lee. That said, they have made Crawford their top priority, and one source said that, in talking with Angels people, he was shocked by “how confident they were” when talking about Crawford signing.

One would figure that the Yankees would be all preoccupied with the Cliff Lee negotiations, but that isn’t the case - late Tuesday, the team and Carl Crawford’s posse got together for an extended meeting.

Just what they discussed is unclear, but one figures that the Yankees were expressing their interest in the 29-year-old free agent outfielder. While Crawford’s market is developing, the Tigers and the Red Sox are probably out, and the Yankees may have an opportunity to jump in.

As the top free agent position player on the market, Carl Crawford continues to look for a new home. The athletic 29-year-old outfielder is coming off a year in which he put up an .851 OPS and 47 steals, and he and his agent are searching for a very long contract.

The extent of Crawford’s demands have already likely pushed the Red Sox out of contention, as they’re focused more on signing Adrian Gonzalez to a long-term contract and already have a lot of money tied up in guys like Josh Beckett and John Lackey. And now it seems another Crawford suitor is dropping out as well, as the Detroit Tigers are presently backing away.

A number of teams are known to have some degree of interest in free agent outfielder Carl Crawford, including the Angels, Red Sox, Yankees, and Tigers. Now, according to Jon Heyman, you can add another team to the list - the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers currently have Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, David Murphy, and Julio Borbon in the outfield, but a Crawford/Hamilton/Cruz trio would make for the best outfield in baseball. Helping their case is that Crawford was born in Houston, and sure enough, Heyman says Crawford has the Rangers high on his own list, too.

Carl Crawford is being most heavily pursued by the Red Sox and Angels, while the Yankees have their sights set on lefty ace Cliff Lee. However, don’t let that trick you into believing that the Yankees don’t have eyes for the outfielder, too, and Buster Olney has confirmed that the Yankees and Crawford have indeed been in contact.

What’s unknown is the degree of New York’s interest. It’s possible that they could have room for both Crawford and Lee - the two jewels of the offseason - but the more likely situation is that they see Crawford as a backup in case Lee returns to the Rangers. In that event, the Yankees wouldn’t want Crawford to sign with anyone until Lee’s off the market.

Word has it that free agent outfielder Carl Crawford is seeking an eight-year contract. He’s probably not going to get a deal quite that long, but he’s still drawing significant interest, and in fact he and his representatives have recently been meeting with the Red Sox in Houston in an effort to size each other up and maybe hammer out an offer.

The Red Sox’ current owners have never given out a bigger contract to a position player than the five-year, $70 million deal they gave to J.D. Drew, and while Crawford is in his physical peak, the Red Sox won’t feel compelled to pay him for most of the next decade. Yet they can probably outspend the Angels - Crawford’s other top suitor - and provided nobody else comes offering eight years, that demand shouldn’t be much of a stumbling block.

Free agent outfielder Carl Crawford has drawn heavy interest from a few teams, like the Angels and Red Sox, but may wait to sign until Cliff Lee is off the market so as to give the Rangers or Yankees an opportunity to get involved. That’s one reason the Crawford sweepstakes may move slowly. Another reason? Crawford wants a really big contract.

According to the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman, the 29-year-old Crawford is looking to sign an eight-year contract that would lock him up at big money through 2018. Whether he gets that contract, of course, remains to be seen, but in an offseason that’s already seen teams throwing a lot of money around and Troy Tulowitzki get signed through 2020, it isn’t an impossible dream. Crawford’s an athletic outfielder in the prime of his career, and he’s going to want a lot of security.

Carl Crawford is one of the premier free agents on the market, and arguably the best of all the position players. But it seems he may wait to do anything until the true star of the offseason - Cliff Lee - makes a decision on where he’s going to go.

Crawford has already drawn significant interest from both the Angels and the Red Sox. Lee, however, has the full attention of both the Rangers and the Yankees, and, obviously, only one of them can get him. The loser will be left searching for other options, and it’s possible that Texas or New York could then end up getting involved with Crawford as well. That would only introduce another big-money team to the sweepstakes, which would work out in Crawford’s favor.

Hunter, for his part, supports the idea, going so far as to say that the Angels “need” Crawford’s presence. He and Crawford speak regularly, and it’s clear that there’s going to be some recruiting going on.

However, a long-term contract that Crawford signed with the Rays in April of 2005 has expired, and the 29 year old is now a free agent. And he’s not just a free agent - he’s arguably the top free agent position player on the market.

Crawford has batted .297 over the past three years, with 132 steals, a .454 slugging percentage, and phenomenal defense.