Late Wednesday evening, the Red Sox signed Carl Crawford to a seven-year contract worth $142 million. It is the largest contract for an outfielder in baseball history, and easily beats out the seven-year, $126 million contract signed by Jayson Werth on Sunday.
Carl Crawford Gives Red Sox Potent, Lefty-Heavy Lineup
In signing Crawford, the Red Sox came out of nowhere to steal the top free agent position player away from the Angels and Yankees, They’ve also gone and given themselves one hell of a projected 2010 starting lineup. Based on their roster right now, they look to start the following nine:
C: Jarrod Saltalamacchia
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
2B: Dustin Pedroia
SS: Marco Scutaro
3B: Kevin Youkilis
LF: Carl Crawford
CF: Jacoby Ellsbury
RF: J.D. Drew
DH: David Ortiz
That doesn’t even mention backup outfielder Mike Cameron, and the fact that the Red Sox are currently pursuing other options at catcher, including free agent Miguel Olivo.
No matter how you arrange those players, it’s set to be an excellent batting order from top to bottom. The only real concern is that Ellsbury, Ortiz, Crawford, Gonzalez, and Drew are all left-handed hitters, making the lineup vulnerable to certain starting pitchers and relievers, but that’s a problem the Red Sox can probably deal with. Having the right-handed Cameron able to play all three outfield positions doesn’t hurt.
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