Red sox in HOT pursuit for Crawford

The Red Sox have accelerated their efforts to lure Carl Crawford to Boston, meeting with the free-agent outfielder in Houston recently, a league source confirmed Wednesday. The meeting was originally reported by Yahoo! Sports.

It was not clear Wednesday afternoon whether Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein was accompanied by team owner John W. Henry, but historically Henry has personally met with elite targets (Alex Rodriguez in 2003, Mark Teixeira in 2008).

Crawford, called a "game-changer" by Red Sox manager Terry Francona during a recent radio interview, is considered by many the top position player on the market this winter. What will it take to sign Crawford? Quite likely, a deal of the magnitude of the seven-year, $120 million contract the Cardinals gave outfielder Matt Holliday in January to keep him in St. Louis, or more.

The Red Sox during the John Henry era have never signed a free agent for a contract longer than the five-year, $82.5 million deal they gave John Lackey last winter. At the time, they said, that was a concession to the market, noting that the Yankees had signed A.J. Burnett for those same terms a year before and it would take a similar deal to sign Lackey.

Are the Sox willing to make a similar market concession this winter? The longest contract Epstein has given any player has been six years, and he has done it twice, once for Daisuke Matsuzaka -- the definition of special circumstances -- and to Dustin Pedroia, a deal for $40.5 million that will look like a steal if Pedroia remains healthy and productive. Those are always big ifs, as demonstrated this past season when Pedroia fractured his foot. A freak injury, to be sure, but one that knocked Pedroia out of the last three-plus months of the season.

The Angels are known to have significant interest in Crawford, the Tigers could be in play, and one should never rule out the Yankees .

The Red Sox retain strong interest in free-agent outfielder Jayson Werth as well, and are still in the mix for third baseman Adrian Beltre. With the winter meetings scheduled to begin Monday in Orlando, the Sox are expected to intensify their efforts to add bullpen help, add a complementary catcher to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, shop for a first baseman or a third baseman, and gauge the likelihood of signing either Crawford or Werth.

The Red Sox did not offer salary arbitration to Jason Varitek, and while the team captain remains in play, the source suggested the Sox are looking hard at alternatives.

Gordon Edes covers the Red Sox for ESPNBoston.com.