From TBO.com: After Delmon casually badmouthed the Rays yesterday, Carl Crawford had a few things to say about it. Okay, he had a lot to say about it.
"I think he just got it misconstrued," said Crawford. "Nobody said he was the reason for us losing the games. We said it was a more relaxed, more calm environment that could help us in the future. Nobody blamed him or Dukes for losing the games. For him to say we want to wait until he leaves to say something--who is he? Nobody's afraid of him. You know? We'll say it to his face. I'll be more than happy to say it to his face or any kind of other way that'll make him understand what we mean."
He went further, his animated response cluing Rays fans in at what was probably an even bigger problem in the clubhouse last year than what we could've known. From The Heater:
"These are exactly the the kind of distractions we were talking about with the Rays, a young guy popping off at the mouth, talking too much,'' Crawford said. "He needs to just shut up and play baseball.''
"Tell them, this is exactly the kind of thing Crawford and the Rays were talking about. It hasn't happened much (in Minnesota yet), but at some point it will and they will see what we were talking about over here.''
So much for "The new Delmon."