Rays offer Sox a Stern reprimand
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After taking two out of three from the Boston Red Sox in their penultimate series against them this season, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have further irritated Boston by putting in a waiver claim on AAA outfielder Adam Stern, who was supposed to be the "Player To Be Named Later" in the Javy Lopez deal with the Baltimore Orioles.
Tampa Bay's consternation with Boston comes from their trade discussions involving SS Julio Lugo. During those discussions, the Rays received information that Boston had contacted Lugo's agent, inquiring if Lugo would be interested in a contract extension and willing to play second base. Were that true, it would constitute a violation of MLB rules. Since Tampa Bay does not have information enough to file a complaint, they apparently have decided to interfere with Boston's move of Stern to Baltimore in retribution.
This will not affect Boston's acquisition of Lopez; that part of the transaction is already complete. All this will mean is that Baltimore will have to wait until the season is over to acquire Stern. After making a name for himself during the World Baseball Classic, Stern has struggled somewhat while playing for the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox this season. In 90 games, he has 8HR, 34RBI, and a .257 average.
The Devil Rays had already mocked Boston earlier in the week by playing "Sweet Caroline" in Tropicana Field after the Rays' 7-6 walkoff victory Sunday.
Source
Date
Tue 08/08/06, 10:13 am EST
