A Punch In The Gut: Carl Crawford, Boston Red Sox

"I'm crushed...I'm sitting here in a daze right now, like, what the heck just happened?" --Torii Hunter, outfielder, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Yeah, no kidding, Torii.

We all knew he was leaving but with 29 other teams out there, it's safe to say that Rays fans were willing to feel relatively good about it, as long as he stayed away from a certain two; anybody but the Yankees or Red Sox.

Guess what happened?

The Red Sox offered him a seven-year contract worth $142 million, which is about $34 million more than what the Angels offered, that's what happened. The ninth largest contract in baseball history and the largest ever for an outfielder, a mind-bogglingly massive deal.

But it's not the what: nobody would expect anybody to pass up an offer like that. It's the where. The emotional part of your brain might ask, "Why Boston? Why would he turn on us like this?" and the rational part of your brain might answer, "What difference does it make? Gone is gone. Once he left, he became an opponent. Why would he be obligated to do us any favors?". You might be tempted to tell your rational part to shut up because this is the Red Sox we're talking about. Eventually, you have to face facts though: the Rays couldn't afford him and the Red Sox made the best offer.

So what now? Burning jerseys ala LeBron? Chipping in on a fond  farewell message? Circling the date on the schedule when Boston comes to the Trop for the first time this season (May 24th; the Rays visit Fenway for the first time on April 16th), so you can give him one standing ovation and then boo him every time he comes up? You tell us.