The drama just doesn't stop with the Red Sox.
The latest intrigue: according to a report in the New York Daily News,
backup catcher Kelly Shoppach, using teammate Adrian Gonzalez's phone, sent the infamous text message requesting a meeting with team owners last month in New York.
That might explain Shoppach's sudden trade to the Mets last week that came just after Yahoo! Sports broke the story of the text message and the contentious meeting in New York, where players allegedly told owners that they didn't want to play for manager Bobby Valentine.
The Daily News said it was told by three sources that Shoppach was "deeply involved" in writing the text message that started yet another controversy in a year full of them in Valentine's first season with the team.
Shoppach, reached in Washington, where his new team was playing on Saturday, told the Daily News, "I don't know what you're talking about," when asked about sending the text message.
More from the Daily News story:
A small group of players that has been unhappy with Valentine this seasona group that included Shoppach, according to a source familiar with the circumstanceswas complaining about the manager in late July and engaged Gonzalez in the conversation. A member of the group suggested that the only way to bring about action would be to voice their problems to ownership. Gonzalez was tired of hearing the constant grumbling and agreed with them that a message from himthe teams highest-paid playerwould get managements attention.
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Several sources say Gonzalez had nothing to do with the messages content, whichaccording to a report this past week on Yahoo! Sportsindicated the team was unhappy that Valentine had left ace Jon Lester in a game to give up 11 runs against Toronto on July 22. The text message was not his idea or his opinion . . . or his words, one said. Those were from the small group of players that included Shoppach.
Asked about the authoring of the text message following Saturdays game at Yankee Stadium, Gonzalez said, I know why youre asking, but were not going to talk about that anymore.