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.

INTERACTIVE By MSNBC.com's Tony DeMarco

“That’s not true,” Epstein told the paper. “There’s nothing to that.”

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.”

JT THE BRICK ON BASEBALL Beantown bust History tells us that J.D. Drew won't last in Boston

But then Drew walked away from the three years and $33 million guaranteed on his contract.

“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.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos

“I did my due diligence,” Boras told the Times. “There were a number of teams that need a 3, 4 or 5 hitter, and J.D. was the only center fielder. I went to the Dodgers a week before the opt-out date and had lunch with Colletti. I had not yet met with J.D. I said if you want to talk about it, we are prepared to talk because J. D. has enjoyed his time in L.A.”

MORE FROM BASEBALL

Baseball Section Front

Cuban ‘not on prowl’ for Dodgers, or any team Sosa’s skin undergoing color change Blyleven: Pitching to be had beyond Halladay Damon, Matsui and Pettitte all could return Yankees’ Jeter, Teixeira win Gold Gloves Scully to broadcast in 2010, then decide future Baseball GMs pass on expanding instant replay Martin, Herzog, Murtaugh and Mauch on Hall ballot Free agents Circling the Bases: Blogging on news, rumors, buzz Baseball Section Front   Add Baseball headlines to your news reader: