NEW YORK, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein denies the team tampered with outfielder J.D. Drew, who left the Dodgers for a richer contact with Boston.
Several Major League Baseball officials say the behavior of the Red Sox was a hot topic at the general managers' meeting last month and the winter meetings in Florida this week, The New York Times reported.
In what the newspaper called "Exhibit A for the disgruntled," Drew walked away from the final three years of his Dodgers' contract to test the free agent market. Drew's agent, Scott Boras, said the move was dictated by the marketplace, but Drew's move could wind up being investigated by the commissioner's office for possible tampering, the Times said.
A baseball official said the commissioner's office had not received a complaint, but one general manager told the newspaper some baseball executives urged Dodgers' GM Ned Colletti to file a tampering charge.
Colletti told the Times the team had not decided yet whether to file a charge.
Epstein said he had no conversations with Boras before Drew became a free agent Nov. 10.
Drew walked away from a guaranteed $33 million with Los Angeles and signed a five-year, $70 million deal with Boston.
