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Ben Cherington explains what the Red Sox knew about Carl Crawford’s wrist 03.29.12 at 2:32 pm ET
By Rob Bradford

Ben Cherington

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Carl Crawford told WEEI.com that he had been dealing with his wrist pain for “four or five years.” His former manager with the Rays, Joe Maddon, confirmed earlier this week that the Tampa Bay organization was aware of the issue, although surgery never was broached.

Thursday, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington explained to WEEI.com the process that went behind analyzing Crawford’s injury heading into the outfielder signing a seven-year, $142 million deal, and what the Sox were aware of:

When we were pursuing Carl as a free agent, we knew he had intermediate wrist soreness in his time in Tampa. He had been a very, very good player over a number of years with Tampa. Then as we got closer to a deal we got access to more information as part of the entrance physical for the contract. Before we got the official contract done, we had access to everything that had happened. We did a risk assessment with him, like we would with any other player. Then we felt, based on what we knew, that this was a risk that was worth taking, that we were comfortable with.

We knew there were going to be things that had to be managed over time, as with any player that has had some symptoms, we were not ruling out at some point in the terms of the contract he would have to have something done. We factored all that in and made the decision to go forward.

We felt confident we could help him manage it. At some point if something had to be done he would recover from it. The issues he was having were things that he could either play with, or manage, or get past if something had to happen, if a procedure had to happen. When he developed soreness this winter, it was obviously not the news we were hoping for. It wasn’t ideal, but certainly the timing was better than the last week in March. So we weren’t entirely surprised by it. We weren’t happy about it, but not entirely surprised by it.

It was one of the possibilities we were aware of at the time we signed him. And we still feel the same way, that he will recover from this and be back to being a very good player.

A lot of players have pathology in different joints. Pitchers, position players … you do a lot of things in baseball the body is not designed to do. For a pitcher that usually involves a shoulder or elbow. A lot of guys are pitching very well with shoulders or elbows that aren’t perfect. It’s the same thing for position players. The hitting causes a lot of strain on the wrist and the hands. There are a lot of major league hitters whose wrists and hands don’t look perfect. It’s just a matter of managing it, and at some point sometimes you have to treat it a little more aggressively, and that was the case this winter with Carl.

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  • Chris

    Well you guess wrong…on a contract of 148 mil…if it was for 60 mil …not a problem..its a waste of moneis and time as I can see it….this should have never happen knowing  what Ortiz went through

  • JimDaytona

    If that is really true, then Cherington, since Theo is gone, should be fired. Why in the hell would anyone sign a player with such a critical injury / issue.

  • Johnny Spygate

    When did your Sox become the Bengals?

  • Shennessey

    The sox organization is much dumber then anybody could have imagined. Why would anybody give a injured player 142 million dollars? This guy will never come back to what he was, which even at his best wasn’t worth half that contract anyway. This organization is a train wreck, maybe they should have a beer and some chicken

  • Tonyfranco

    The problem with making a mistake on Crawford is that it will not only cost you $148MM but also cost you Jacoby Ellsbury.

  • AL34

    This team is looking like idiots more everyday with this issue the Carpenter issue, the Lackey issue. Has anyone ever heard of a medical staff and examination and actually reading a report. This was a hell of an investment for a guy with a bad wrist who looks like a shell of himself when he played in Tampa. Even letting Adrian Gonzalez participate in thehomerunserby and taking an extra 100 swings. How did that decision look when September came around and we needed his bat to carry the team. Then Titogiving him time off out of the lineup because he was tired.

  • Bhdyer20

    Quick everyone over react to everything the Red Sox do!  The Lackey issue?  The guy got hurt while here has nothing to do with the medical staff.  Everyone is acting like they know for sure that Carpenter was injured before coming here but nobody actually knows that except for the actual doctors.  I am also pretty sure the doctor’s don’t just run randomn MRI’s on guys elbows as part of routine physicals so probably nothing there to tell them he was hurt.  Tito rested Gonzalez because he was tired?  When?  The guy played in 159 games, that’s right Tito rested him a whopping 3 times all season.  Just foolishness going on right now.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/ZVFM2HRNC5CTO2OUXD4XTX65O4 Dennis

     Theo strikes again. 

  • ded sox

    The superb Sox medical team prescribed a steady diet of beer and fried chicken. Face it. Without Schilling in 2004 and 2007, the Sox would still be battling Theo’s Cubs 4 a century of frustration at a crappy ballpark. 

  • ded sox

    The superb Sox medical team prescribed a steady diet of beer and fried chicken. Face it. Without Schilling in 2004 and 2007, the Sox would still be battling Theo’s Cubs 4 a century of frustration at a crappy ballpark. 

  • Brandonpaitston

    I remember when,many years ago, O’s mgr. Earl Weaver called Benny Ayala, a journeyman O’s ballplayer,the Mexican Babe Ruth. Within days, after it was hyped by the media everywhere, the O’s traded Ayala 4 a great deal.  Weaver said,tongue in cheek, that his statements were SUBJECT 2 CHANGE DAILY. Joe Madden of Tampa Bay repeated history when he said if Boston signed free agent CC, the fans would ADORE him. Sox r suckers !

  • Anonymous

    The biggest problem with Crawford is in his head.

  • Anthony

    What a bunch of clowns !! were is the commitment here

  • Deano

    Thanks for releasing the wrist injury information the day after my fantasy draft. If they knew that all summer he was going to be late to start the year then why all the stories about him being ahead of schedule?  

  • Tjfdc

    When we were pursuing Carl as a free agent, we knew he had intermediate wrist soreness in his time 
    There is no such thing as intermediate wrist pain, there is intermittent wrist pain.  Transcription error I hope!

  • marcoDan

    “We felt confident we could help him manage it. “  The Sox didn’t last year and they certainly didn’t in the off season when he did his usual MMA workout with chains and huge truck tires.  What does that have to do with getting into baseball shape and being flexible.

    Then, they let him start-up too early in spring training rather than being medically cautious.   Management and doctors are supposed to protect players from their instincts with science based decisions.

    How long after his May start will the wrist flare up and become a season long problem? 

    But, it’s more than that, he can’t steal bases anymore, or field (if he ever could).  My 2011 picture of CC was that pathetic slide in left field before the ball rolled out of his glove in the last game.

    I’m angry because I agree that his signing probably means the Sox will lose Elsbury.

  • http://twitter.com/Ossurworld Russo

    With the worst medical staff in baseball last year, the Red Sox could not manage hangnails. Nearly every injured player sought a second opinion, and this winter the Red Sox fired all the major medical personnel. Apparently the front office is still selling snake oil.

  • Craig

    I am so glad Theo is gone. way to many big ticket mistakes. Jenks, Lackey, DiceK,
    Drew, Crawford…
    He was good with young talent and the draft. He was terrible with free agents and has left the Red Sox with a terrible mess of big contracts hanging over their heads now. It is why they spent no money this winter. We have to wait for Theo’s mistakes to clear off the payroll now.
    Also the Red Sox have the worst medical staff in history of sports. The last two seasons the amount of injuries has been amazing. No one is in shape, small injuries linger forever, and many are misdiagnosed. Just ask Jacoby.
    Theo took the money and ran off to the Cubs, I feel sorry for them

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