Carl Crawford and Hanley Ramirez now share a clubhouse in Los Angeles. But there reportedly was a point last season when they almost traded places on the East Coast.
The Red Sox and Marlins discussed the possibility of a trade that would have sent Crawford to Miami in exchange for Ramirez, according to WEEI.com’s Alex Speier. The potential swap never gained traction, though, and both Crawford and Ramirez were later traded to the Dodgers in separate deals.
The potential Crawford-for-Ramirez trade reportedly fell apart because of financial hurdles. Speier reports that the problem was the salary offset required by the Marlins to bridge the gap between the $37 million-plus owed to Ramirez through 2014 and the $110.5 million that the Red Sox owed Crawford through 2017. The Red Sox reportedly would have traded Crawford for Ramirez straight up, though.
Ramirez was eventually dealt to the Dodgers about a week before the 2012 trade deadline. Crawford was traded to Los Angeles along with Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto as part of a huge August deal that shook the baseball world.
Everything has worked out well for the Red Sox and Dodgers. The Marlins, on the other hand, still aren’t very good.
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