Bronson Likes Boston; Six-Player Deal For Crisp?

Bronson:

I agreed to this contract with strong advice from [my agents] not to sign it, simply for the reason that I want to play in this town. I love being a Red Sox. I wouldn't have signed a deal [like this] in any other place. The reason I took a discount was because I love playing here and I want to stay here my whole career. ... They didn't give me any guarantees, but Jed and Ben both stated to me that there were no deals on the table for me right now and they felt pretty strongly that I wouldn't be traded.

Arroyo:

Everyone has their own take on the city and how rabid the fans are. I personally love playing here. I think anytime you can step onto the field and have 35,000 fans who are so into the game that you know that if you don't bring your 'A' game, you're going to get booed. ... I also love the city. I love that it's not too big of a town like New York. It is kind of a little, big town. I also enjoy that fans know their baseball here and they take it seriously and they want a winner.

Boston continues to work on obtaining Cleveland center fielder Coco Crisp. The Globe reports there is a six-player deal being discussed. The Red Sox would trade Andy Marte, Guillermo Mota, and a prospect for Crisp and two other players/prospects.

2004-2005  AVG  OBP  SLG
Crisp     .299 .345 .456
Damon     .310 .373 .458

The club also signed Willie Harris to a minor-league contract/spring training invite. The speedy Harris (49-for-61 in SB) played second base and center field for the White Sox.