Crawford 'Surprised,' Unhappy About Henry's Comments

FORT MYERS, Fla. (CBS) -- When John Henry showed up at the 98.5 The Sports Hub studio in October to try to put out some PR fires on Felger & Mazz, he ignited a few more.

The biggest may have been when he revealed that he was against signing free-agent outfielder Carl Crawford last winter. Obviously, with Crawford signed to a seven-year, $142 million contract that runs through 2017, it wasn't exactly the keenest move for the Red Sox owner.

On Monday, Crawford arrived at spring training in Fort Myers, and he was honest about how he felt regarding Henry's comments.

Listen To Crawford's Comments On John Henry:

"I don't know, if he wants to meet with me I'm pretty sure we'll have that meeting, but I'm not too sure about that," Crawford told a group of reporters. "I can't do nothing about what he said. I can just go out and play. It was unfortunate that he feels that way but there's nothing for me to say to him but go out and play.

"I wasn't happy about it," Crawford added. "I was a little surprised to hear the comments, but it's unfortunate he feels that way. I just wish that those words hadn't come out."

Henry's comments back in October weren't critical of Crawford as a player. The owner simply said he believed the Red Sox had enough lefties in the lineup.

"In fact, anyone involved in the process, anybody involved in upper management with the Red Sox would tell you that I personally opposed [signing Crawford]," Henry told Felger and Mazz. "Why? Because we had plenty of left-handed hitting. I don't have to go into why. I'll just tell you that at the time, I opposed the deal."

On Monday, Henry sent a text message to The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo responding to Crawford's comments, reiterating that his opposition to signing Crawford was based on the fact that he's a left-handed hitter.

"My answer was an honest, off-the-cuff response on a radio station to a false assertion that ownership signed him for offseason PR purposes," Henry told Cafardo. "This was a baseball decision I ultimately backed."

In his first season in Boston, Crawford hit just .255, the lowest average he's ever had in his 10-year career. Crawford told reporters Monday that despite the expectation for him to miss the beginning of the season, he's hoping to be ready to play on Opening Day. There just may have to be a meeting with Mr. Henry before then.

In:
• Spring Training
• Boston Red Sox