Rays, CC won’t talk money until after the season

Posted Feb 25, 2010 by Roger Mooney

Updated Feb 25, 2010 at 09:10 PM

Don’t expect the soap opera that would be Carl Crawford’s contract negotiations to play out over the summer. Both sides agreed to not visit the subject until after the season.

By then, Crawford will be a free agent and the soap opera will turn into a circus. That is, if the left fielder is still with the club.

“As we’ve said numerous times, C.C. is a very important part of this organization for this season and potentially more seasons,” Rays vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman said.

The Rays normally do not negotiate during the season, but are willing to waive that rule at the player’s request if the player doesn’t think it would be a distraction.

But with owner Stuart Sternberg on record about cutting payroll after this season and with Crawford expected to make somewhere between $13 million and $15 million on the open market, his negotiations could very well be a distraction, not only to Crawford but to the team.