Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Cody Ross was one of very few bright spots on an abysmal Boston Red Sox team last season. He hit .267 with 22 homers and 81 RBI, which isn’t bad considering the Sox only won 69 games. However, Boston chose not to bring him back.
During an interview with WEEI’s Mut and Merloni before Arizona’s three-game series at Fenway park on Friday night, Ross made it clear that he is still bitter about the way his tenure with the Red Sox ended.
“We might have made the mistake of going to them first and saying that I like it here, kind of I guess you would say showing your hand,” Ross said. “I guess it’s called showing your hand when you tell a team that you want to come back, you want to play here. I don’t see how that could hurt me, but I guess it did.
“They told me that they didn’t want to sign guys to long-term deals, and then they gave [Shane] Victorino a three-year deal, and then [Mike] Napoli a three-year deal or four-year deal, whatever it was. So, basically they lied to my face. At that point, I kind of got a bad taste in my mouth and wanted to move on, and that was it.”
Napoli’s deal was later shortened to a one-year contract because of health concerns, but that’s beside the point. Victorino signed a three-year, $39 million contract with Boston. Ross ended up signing for three years and $26 million with Arizona, so obviously the Red Sox simply preferred the Flyin’ Hawaiian. My guess is the Sox moved on from Ross after signing Victorino, not the other way around.
Ross can be bitter about the business side of the game all he wants, but it should be noted that the Red Sox have the best record in baseball. Whatever Cherington did during the offseason has worked perfectly to this point, which includes his decision to sign Victorino and let Ross walk. Sometimes that’s just the way it goes.
