Carl Crawford did not enjoy his time with the Red Sox. His numbers — way below his career averages with Tampa Bay — would tell you that alone. Now, Crawford himself is admitting as much.
The outfielder has received a new start, this one coming seemingly a million miles from Yawkey Way, as Crawford opens spring training with the Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s after he, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett were all sent to the Dodgers in a blockbuster trade in August.
It’s safe to assume that there’s not much of anything Crawford misses about Boston.
“I knew with the struggles I was having, it would never get better for me,” Crawford told the Los Angeles Times. “I just didn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. It puts you in kind of a depression stage. You just don’t see a way out.”
Crawford’s on-field play was abysmal in Boston, and there’s no way that helped the situation. He hit .260 over the course of the two seasons with 14 home runs, 75 RBIs and 23 stolen bases in just 161 total games.
“Toughest two years of my career, by far,” Crawford told the paper. “From the outside, you watch guys playing over there and you think you can go and play. But you realize, once you get there, it’s a little tougher than you expected.
“It was just everything. Me not playing well. Me being in an unfamiliar area in an environment that was toxic. Just all those things combined. You start to say, ‘Is this ever going to end?'”
Crawford continues to rehab his surgically repaired elbow, and he says he’ll be ready for Opening Day.
