Here's the latest from the AL East…
- Red Sox owner John Henry e-mailed the Boston Globe today to clarify his comments from last October about not wanting to sign Carl Crawford in the 2010-11 offseason. "At the time I was opposed due to too many lefties in the lineup and particularly in the outfield,” Henry wrote. “My answer was an honest, off-the-cuff response on a radio station to a false assertion that ownership signed him for offseason PR purposes.. This was a baseball decision I ultimately backed.”
- Crawford, for his part, told media today (including Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com) that he wasn't pleased to hear Henry's comments. “I was a little surprised to hear the comments but like I said, it’s unfortunate he feels that way. I just wish those words hadn’t come out," Crawford said.
- Kevin Youkilis isn't worried about his contract situation, he told reporters (including WEEI.com's Alex Speier) today. The Red Sox hold a $13MM option on Youkilis for 2013 that can be bought out for $1MM. "For me, it’s not about a contract year. If I stay healthy and play hard, do all the little things to help the team, I know I can play here,” Youkilis said. “I know if I’m out there starting everyday and we win a World Series….it’s going to be hard for them not to bring me back. I want to make it as hard on them as possible to not bring me back.”
- Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com looks at how minor league options could impact which pitchers the Orioles keep on their roster this spring. Baltimore has 10 players on its 40-man roster who are out of options, the highest number of any team.
- Toronto's climate played a role in Koji Uehara rejecting a trade to the Blue Jays, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. "The weather is an issue," Uehara said. "I also know how hard it is to compete in that division." Despite the toughness of the AL East, Uehara has reportedly expressed an interest in returning to the Orioles if a trade could be worked out, though he told Sullivan that he would also be happy continuing to pitch for the Rangers.
- To round out the division's teams, here are some items about the Rays and Yankees from earlier today, plus the news that the Yankees have agreed to a deal with Raul Ibanez.
Oh wow the boston media is stirring up the pot to create headlines..shocking…
When the team owner basically says he didn’t want to sign someone who’s here for the next 7 years, and the player says he doesn’t like to hear it…that’s not stirring the pot. It’s ladling it out.
“When the team owner basically says . . ” anything negative about his team, the players, the staff, or the Front Office, he should be taken out behind the shed and beaten! Add to that the simple reality that John Henry has yet to apologize to Crawford (either publicly or privately) or Red Sox Nation for his bone-headed comments, and we have a roiling, controversial conflict.
“Its ladling it out” is a very apt analogy.
Someone better tell John Henry that the smell he is discerning is tar being heated and the noise he hears is the chickens protesting being plucked.
And the Sox 2012 collapse begins… I keed I keed.
Uehara must be a big time outdoorsy guy or something to care enough about the weather to make it the first thing he says about not wanting to go to Toronto.
Yeah really. it must be really hard on these players to have to play every game, without worrying about rainouts, cold weather, or extreme heat, since that is why the Rogers center has a retractable roof. If he bothered to notice the real weather, Toronto’s weather is NO different from Baltimore, New York, Boston, Milwaukee, Philly, or any other city in north east. Perhaps Uehara doesn’t travel with the team to Toronto every year, so he believes everyone lives in an igloo and drives dog sleds to the ballpark. Now I have heard everything and hurray that the clown didn’t get traded to the Jays. They don’t need a whiner on the team that complains about everything, without considering the facts, showing he doesn’t have a clue.
The reason he would be interested in Baltimore over Toronto is that his family still lives in Baltimore, so the weather there would obviously take a back seat to that.
What a clown indeed.*
*I’m not talking about Uehara there.
“The weather is an issue,” Uehara said. “I also know how hard it is to compete in that division.” Hey, don’t condemn the messenger that simply posted a response to what Uehara said. He was the clown that said it, not me, and he has to accept responsibility for his actions and what he said publicly.
Anyone that blames the weather is out to lunch, because Toronto is one of the few cities in major-league baseball where the weather has no bearing on the games at all. The roof is open on hot days, closed when it is cold or raining.
Just an FYI, but he didn’t mention his family, visa problems, or anything else. He said the weather is an issue, which proves that he doesn’t know what he is talking about. He will also pitch against all five AL east teams, as well as the AL west teams of Texas and Anaheim in 2012 if he is in Baltimore, so competition has no effect on the schedule either. He was just making excuses, nothing more, nothing less, and he got called out on it.
You do realize that writers don’t actually put every single comment someone might make into a story, right?
It says right under where he makes the weather comment, “His family still lives in Baltimore.”
How do you know that he did not go into that and Sullivan just chose to post that on his own? You don’t. He could have gone on about the subject and Sullivan chose to summarize it into one short sentence. Also, keep in mind that he’s speaking through an interpreter.
You know what? Forget it. Just continue to be an unhappy lemming who takes everything as a slight before actually thinking about what they are reading.
You do realize that writers don’t actually put every single comment someone might make into a story, right?
It says right under where he makes the weather comment, “His family still lives in Baltimore.”
How do you know that he did not go into that and Sullivan just chose to post that on his own? You don’t. He could have gone on about the subject and Sullivan chose to summarize it into one short sentence. Also, keep in mind that he’s speaking through an interpreter.
You know what? Forget it. Just continue to be an unhappy lemming who takes everything as a slight before actually thinking about what they are reading.
People wonder why the Sox fell apart, and were said to have chemistry problem. Then we read statements like that from the Sox front office. No wonder players aren’t on the same page. There is no reason to throw Crawford under the bus like that.
“People wonder why the Sox fell apart”
Look.. I get so tired of repeating this… Boston held huge leads until late in the season virtually every season in the 70’s.. Sometimes as large as 10 games and lost them and a PO chance.. Every team loses a lead, but Boston has this almost useless ‘I am holier than thou” media that loves to spin any problem and will invent problems, even when one does not exist.. Such as ’25 cabs for 25 players” for the ’78 squad, saying nobody got along with each other and kept hammering on that topic until it seemed like fact to even the players.
it goes with the general area, the type of rubbish media they want to read and those inventive writers just grab their typewriter, think of something totally off the wall and it’s.. PRESTO! Invent a dilemma time for the poor Sox, c’s, Pats…
If there is one group of people I despise more than politicians it’s the Boston sports media. They don’t just nurture insanity for our already slightly more superstitious than average fan base, they’re often creating the insanity.
I some times miss the old days before the Sox won the Series when the average fan knew more than just a few names and the headlines. What I don’t miss are guys like Shaunessey making a living off of declaring it a curse.
“I some times miss the old days before the Sox won the Series”
Totally understand.. The amount of band wagon fans have increased seemingly 5 fold and media scrutiny by Shaugnessy types (one of the worst btw) has hit an all time low as far as enjoyment.
Who would have figured that just finally being able to witness a game 7 win finally, after myself seeing them lose a WS 3x in the 7th game would bring so many negatives.
I remember a few years ago, I got tickets for my father and myself for a Rays game. Turned out to be a Schilling versus Kazmir (back when he was good and killed the AL East), really exciting even with the Sox losing by one run. We were in the outfield bleachers and the group behind us was noisy and drunk throughout the game but never talking about anything baseball related. Finally in the 4th inning I said something and we got heckled by the same drunks for the rest of the game.
It was pretty much at that point I realized I hated bandwagoners. Here I was, with my father, the guy who taught me to appreciate the game, being harassed by drunks who probably wouldn’t know Dwight Evans from Dom DiMaggio or probably even who Ted Williams was.
That said. I still hate Boston sports media even more.
I’m not saying that they aren’t exagerating things, but there has to be something to it. Theo lest, Francona left, people are writing all kinds of garbage. My opinion is that things are messed up, and the front office wants to blame the players. That isn’t fair.
Well clearly Uehara has no idea about the climate of Toronto
I agree. From everything the Nationals and north (except Seattle)… same climate. Don’t even try to say otherwise.
Uehara knows Toronto has a dome, right?
If I am GM and I just read Uehara’s reasons for not wanting to play in Toronto, I immediately remove him from my potential trade list – “I know how hard it is to compete in that division” – what a joke, when I played, I wanted to face the best pitcher if I was at the plate and the best hitter when I was pitching.
considering he wants to play in baltimore, i dont know if thats the reason
It’s pretty obvious (especially from those comments) that he’s just making up reasons. TEX is his #2 place to play behind Baltimore. By vetoing that trade he could stay with his #2 with a shot at #1.
“The weather is an issue,” Uehara said. “I also know how hard it is to compete in that division.”
Hey Beavis….uh huh huh huh….That guy’s a wuss….uh huh huh huh.
Koji Uehara is the Roy Oswalt of Relief Pitchers.
Little know facts about the both of them
They share a favorite book: Goldilocks and The Three Bears
Also, a favorite section in the book they both can relate too.
Oh this is too hot, this is too cold, and this is just….
What a Joke!
Lefty, come on man. You see what’s going on here, right?!?!
He could’ve of just said…”Toronto sucks, ay”. Guess people would’ve been more accepting of that.
“Eh”
What Carl should have said is…..
“For $15-20,000,00/yr….John Henry can insult me, my mother, my grandmother…all my distant relatives and friends …and, yes, my enemies too…”
…and hit about 50 points higher in 2012..than he did in 2011..
I for one, am going to shell Uehara with snowballs when he pitches in Toronto.
I don’t predict a very good year for
Boston. I think they will continue
their downward spiral. Personally, I
thought this might be a good time to rebuild but they have some heavy contracts
that make that difficult. It is not a
good time to be a red sox fan. A long
season of finger pointing, injuries, and disappoints. I predict them to come in thirteenth in the power rankings.