BOSTON – A baseball official said the Boston Red Sox have met with free-agent outfielder Carl Crawford.

The Red Sox are targeting Crawford as the centerpiece of their offseason shopping. A major league official confirmed the meeting, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it.

Crawford, a four-time All-Star, is one of the top players on the free-agent market.

He earned $10 million from the Tampa Bay Rays last season while hitting .307 with 47 stolen bases and career bests of 19 home runs, 90 RBI and 110 runs scored.

Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein and team owner John Henry did not immediately respond to e-mails asking about the meeting, which was originally reported on a Yahoo! Sports Twitter feed.

Crawford is the longest-tenured player in Rays history. Over nine seasons, he is the franchise career leader in batting average, RBI, hits, doubles, triples, runs scored and stolen bases.