MLB Rumors: Why Carl Crawford's Latest Comments Should Have Red Sox Fans Excited

Carl Cawford's first season for the Boston Red Sox was not one for the books. In the first year of a seven-year, $142 million contract, Crawford had easily the worst season of his career. For Red Sox Nation, it was brutal to watch.

The Crawford situation got even more dicey shortly after the season ended, as team owner John Henry did a radio interview in which he admitted that he was not on board with the Crawford signing.

Via Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald:

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"Definitely a baseball signing," Henry said. "In fact, anybody involved in upper management of the Red Sox will tell you that I personally opposed that. They all knew that. Why? Because we had plenty of left-handed hitting. I don't have to go into why. I'll just tell you at the time that I opposed the deal, but I don't meddle to the point of making decisions for our baseball people. Theo will tell you this was driven by or baseball people. It wasn't a PR move. Neither was the Gonzalez (trade)."

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Naturally, this comment got blown way out of proportion. People took it to mean that Crawford wasn't wanted in Boston. It was and still is nigh impossible to imagine the Red Sox ditching Crawford, but Henry's comments definitely fueled the anti-Crawford fires.

Crawford shot back on Monday at JetBlue Park, Boston's home away from home for spring training. He said that he has no plans to meet with Henry so the two of them can get on the same page, and he didn't mind admitting that he was a little annoyed when he heard about Henry's comments.

Via Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:

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I can’t do nothing about what he said ... just go out and play. It was unfortunate he feels that way. It"s nothing for me to say to him. I wasn’t happy about it. I was a little surprised to hear the comments but you know it's unfortunate he feels that way. Wish those words hadn’t came out.

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No doubt some will translate this to mean that there's bad blood between Crawford and Henry, but that would once again be blowing the situation out of proportion. Henry was being honest when he admitted he opposed the Crawford signing, and this is Crawford being honest about what he thought about those comments. Honesty is not always a bad thing.

In this case, it's a good thing. Crawford could have chosen to play the diplomat here, but instead, he essentially chose to fight back. It sounds like he has a chip on his shoulder, as well he should.

Crawford spoke at length about other topics as well, most notably new manager Bobby Valentine (who Crawford likes), his swing and his wounded wrist. Crawford had to have surgery on it during the offseason, and he may have to miss the start of the season.

However, Crawford didn't rule out being ready for Opening Day.

"In my mind the odds are good. I definitely don’t want to miss any games. My goal is to make it for Opening Day," he said.

Whenever Crawford comes back, he made it clear that he put in a lot of work over the offseason diagnosing what went wrong in 2011, and he says he has "corrected" the problems that plagued him throughout the entirety of the season.

As for the whole chicken and beer storyline that ruled the Red Sox headlines for the better part of the offseason, Crawford was quick to write it off as no big deal:

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It didn’t really impact us. It wasn’t really like guys complaining. I don’t think it had a big role. When I heard the story, I couldn’t believe that you guys (media) knew about it. That was a surprise but it’s one of those things that was unfortunate it had to happen and you try to move on.”

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On the bright side, Crawford said that the chicken and beer fiasco will have a positive effect: “Guys are gonna rally around that chicken and beer thing and rally together. Stay positive. Hope for the best.”

All of this should be exactly what Red Sox fans want to hear out of Crawford. While nobody (or at least, very few) blames Crawford directly for the team's collapse at the end of the season, fans have definitely singled him out as one of the team's primary villains from the 2011 season. He didn't kill them, but he certainly didn't help them either.

From Crawford's comments, you get the sense that 2011 was an anomaly for both him personally and the team in general. That kind of attitude definitely makes sense for him personally, as we know from his track record that Crawford is a far, far better player than the one who hit .255/.289/.405 in 2011. Even if he doesn't get back to being his old Tampa Bay self, he's not going to be as bad in 2012 as he was in 2011.

It's also a good bet that this Red Sox team is not going to let the end of the 2011 season rule their fate in 2012. The Sox are being largely overlooked and even disrespected in some circles, but people forget that they were one of the very best teams in baseball up until the last month of the season. This was despite the fact they were burdened by Crawford's poor season and subpar pitching.

Health permitting, these things should straighten themselves out in 2012. Moreover, you can take Crawford's word for it that both he and the team will be looking to prove a point this season.

Is all of this just talk and nothing else? Yes, and talk is cheap. Ultimately, we won't know how good this team is until everyone shuts up and starts playing.

But hey, positive vibes never hurt.