Carl Crawford, yesterday:
Rays boss Andrew Friedman, last night:
OK, so they don’t comment about contract negotiations, but I think that speaks loud and clear all the same. Crawford has a $10 million option for next year. The Rays will almost certainly pick that up. From what it sounds like, however, they’re almost certainly going to add some years on that for their speedy left fielder as well.
Crawford said today that he would be open to a long-term deal with the Rays this winter and said he “would like to be a part of” the Rays’ future. He noted that that wasn’t the case before last season, but he has confidence that the organization remains headed in the right direction and won’t regress to its old ways.
“I hope we can get something done,” he said.
“We are very pleased to hear C.C.'s comments. Consistent with our policy, we do not speak publicly about contract negotiations but obviously we have a tremendous amount of respect for Carl both on and off the field. He has been a big part of our past success and I expect he will be a big part of our future success as well.”
