With trade rumors already circulating about All-Star leftfielder Carl Crawford, now there's an apparently false, unattributed report from the NY Baseball Digest that suggests Crawford wants out of Tampa Bay.

The NY Baseball Digest report, citing an unnamed source, stated that Crawford is upset with the Rays over picking up his 2010 option and allegedly backing out of an agreement to negotiate his potential long-term deal.

The report just doesn't seem to have any merit, as it doesn't match up with what both sides have been saying all along (and as recently as this week).

Crawford's agent, Brian Peters, said earlier this week that they were still looking forward to working on a potential-long term deal with the Rays. That's exactly what Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman said when they picked up Crawford's $10 million option on Monday, that both sides were "very interested."

Whether the two sides can work out a deal remains to be seen. But Crawford has shown his interest, and there have been no indications of any animosity from either side.

The report is here..... http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=17698.

That doesn't jibe with what Crawford said in late September, when he expressed interest in working out a long-term deal.

" I hope we can get something done, but if not I'll just go into next season, do what I have to do and try to help the team win and go from there," Crawford said.

- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com