Angels lose out on Carl Crawford

The Angels made outfielder Carl Crawford their top free-agent target this baseball winter, but he has signed tonight with the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox already grabbed the National League West's best hitter, Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres. Quite a contrast in plans. The Red Sox, a perennial contender in baseball's toughest division, add two huge weapons to a team that barely missed the playoffs. The Dodgers, also-rans in the weakest division, have turned two lineup slots (catcher and second base) over to journeymen who can't spell "on-base percentage" and are said to be close to making a regular of a bench player from last season's Red Sox (Bill Hall) who is chronically OBP-impaired.