Hey C.C.? Wanna come play here? Sure

Posted Aug 26, 2010 by Roger Mooney

Updated Aug 26, 2010 at 10:12 AM

Oh to land on the soft green grass that can only be found in another city.

ROGER MOONEY
It happened in Oakland. It happened in Anaheim.

It will probably happen in Boston and New York and anywhere the Rays play when they reach the postseason.

Carl Crawford will be asked if he would be interested in playing in – Pick a city: Oakland, Anaheim, Arlington, New York, Boston … – on a fulltime basis once he hits free agency after this season, and Crawford will say yes.

“I got to keep my options open,” he said the other day in Anaheim.

In other words, he’s not stupid.

He told a reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle last week that he would consider any offer that might come from the A’s.

He said the same thing earlier this week to a reporter from The Orange County Register.

The twist in Anaheim is Crawford is good friends with Torii Hunter of the Angels. In fact, their lockers were next to each other during the All-Star Game played last month at Angel Stadium.

Why wouldn’t Hunter sell Crawford on the benefits of playing for the Angels on that beautiful green grass inside their beautiful stadium?

You can imagine one of the Rays trying to sell one of their friends from another team on the benefits of playing in Tampa Bay if that Ray player knew his friend was going to be a free agent and the Rays were going to add payroll in the offseason.

Crawford, who maintains he wants to remain a Ray, is going to be highly courted this offseason. He will command perhaps the biggest bucks of anyone in this free agent class.

It’s unlikely the Rays will re-sign Crawford, not with owner Stuart Sternberg saying the payroll will be slashed.

And given Crawford’s history of leg problems due largely to playing half his games on the Trop’s FieldTurf, you can see why he will likely take this opportunity to leave for the money, sure, and the comfort of playing on grass.

He’s also not going to turn off any potential employer by telling a reporter he doesn’t want to play there, though I can’t see any GM or owner being turned away by comments Crawford might make about their stadium or city.

So the questions will come, and Crawford will be agreeable to every city.

Wait until he gets to Yankee Stadium next month. Yankee pitcher CC Sabathia is another of his good friends.