Red Sox took correct angles

The path to the Red Sox presenting Carl Crawford with a crisp white uniform jersey at Fenway Park yesterday started nearly five months ago when general manager Theo Epstein assigned one of his top scouts, Allard Baird, to follow the left fielder until the end of his season with the Tampa Bay Rays.

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Armed with Baird’s detailed observations, an extensive statistical analysis, and a comprehensive background check, the front office assembled a thick report on Crawford that was presented to ownership.

That led to Epstein and manager Terry Francona flying to Houston Nov. 30 and meeting with Crawford at the offices of his agents, Greg Genske and Brian Peters.

They returned home convinced that Crawford was interested in the Red Sox and not necessarily bound for the Los Angeles Angels, the team favored to sign him.

“We made a connection with him,’’ Epstein said. “He was really intrigued with being part of our lineup. We felt like we were well-positioned to under the radar grind it out a little bit, and in the end he would want to come here.’’

Crawford, who hoped to stay in the American League East, liked what he heard from Francona. Crawford felt for the first time that his personality would mesh well with the Sox.

“They made me feel like they really wanted me,’’ he said. “That was big.’’

But nothing in the painstaking preparation for a run at Crawford, the best position player on the free agent market, prepared the Red Sox for the few frantic hours on Wednesday night that secured the franchise’s biggest free agent deal in a decade.

According to multiple sources familiar with how the process unfolded within the suites of the Dolphin Hotel at the winter meetings in Florida, the Angels made an offer of six years and $108 million to Crawford with a vesting option for a seventh season. He had until 11 p.m. to accept.

The Angels, convinced they were favored to get the speedy left fielder, had become unnerved when Yankees general manager Brian Cashman dined with Crawford and Peters on Tuesday. That caused them to press Crawford for a quick decision.

The Red Sox had an offer of seven years and $117 million on the table. They, too, were concerned about the Yankees, believing their well-funded rivals had the means to sign Crawford and free agent lefthander Cliff Lee.

To cloud those waters, the Red Sox offered Lee a seven-year deal, but at a salary they knew would be declined.

As the Yankees tangled with the Rangers over Lee, the Sox organized a new offer to Crawford of seven years and $142 million. That required the approval of team owners John Henry and Tom Werner, who were in England attending to matters related to their soccer team, Liverpool.