This week there has been numerous signings that have been finalized during the Winter Meetings. Some of them are no surprise, Derek Jeter with the Yankees and Paul Konerko with the White Sox, while others are much bigger news.
The first big headline signing was the Washington Nationals signing of Jayson Werth to a seven-year, $126 million contract. This deal is completely insane and he is no-where near werth the amount of this deal. The Nationals weren’t going to contend next season, and this won’t help them contend in the near future and is definitely won’t help them towards the end of the contract. Scott Boras might be the world’s greatest negotiator. The United States should hire him for any and all negotiating needs.
The newest headliner is Carl Crawford signing seven-year deal worth $142 million with the Boston Red Sox. At age 28, Crawford can still be very productive and this will prove to be a great signing for the Red Sox. Crawford is coming off a tremendous season in which he was named an All-Star, he won a Gold Glove, he won the Silver Slugger award and he finished 7th in the AL MVP. His career .296 batting average and .356 on base percentage will prove to be valuable in the Red Sox line-up, especially with the addition of Adrian Gonzalez.
I also can realistically see Crawford’s power numbers increasing because of Fenway Park. Tropicana Field is 322 feet down the right field line ending with a 9.5 foot fence while Fenway is only 302 feet down the right field line ending with a three foot fence. Add in the fact that Fenway is 16 feet deeper in center field and 10 feet deeper in right center, Crawford should continue to be near the top of the American league in extra base hits. This increase in power would off-set any decline in speed that he has towards the end of the contract.
He doesn’t only provide offense to the Red Sox, he is also a tremendous fielder. Despite winning only his first gold glove this season, he has only committed 25 errors in his nine seasons.
A healthy Dustin Pedroia and Crawford setting up for David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez will be a tough line-up for opposing pitchers, not to mention a healthy Jacoby Ellsbury. Does this move put them as a front-runner in the AL East? Not yet, but it is a step in the right direction.
What are your thoughts of the signing? Comment below
[Photo Credit: AP Photo/John Bazemore via NYDailyNews.com]
