Some baseball general managers, apparently unhappy with the actions of Boston Red Sox management during the offseason, are complaining that the team feels it can operate outside the rules, according to a report in the New York Times.
One GM told the Times that several people at the winter meetings even urged the Los Angeles Dodgers to file a tampering charge against the Red Sox after J.D. Drew signed with them.
Drew opted out of a contract with three years left on it before leaving to sign with Boston.
“We haven’t reached a decision yet,” Ned Colletti, the Dodgers’ general manager, told the Times.
The Times reported that Colletti was so angry with Boston GM Theo Epstein over the development, that he wasn't returning Epstein's phone calls. But Epstein denied tampering.
Epstein insisted that he did not talk to Drew's agent Scott Boras until after Drew became a free agent.
Drew did not show any interest in opting out of his contract with the Dodgers until the offseason. He even told the Orange County Register near the end of the season: “At some point, you make those commitments and you stick to them.”
“I don’t think he’s the kind of player who would walk away from $33 million without some idea of what was out there,” one unnamed baseball official told the New York Times.
But Boras says he was the one who told Drew he should become a free agent.
|
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
HardballTalk headlines |
Interactive |
Slideshow |
Unbreakable records in baseball A look at the most unbreakable records in baseball including Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters. |
Slideshow |
The top tools of baseball You hear a lot about the tools of baseball, but who are the best hitters, fielders and pitchers? We break it down. more photos |