The Red Sox made a seven-year offer to Cliff Lee according to a story in Sunday's New York Daily News.

Boston, which had already traded for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, was still in pursuit of free-agent outfielder Carl Crawford when it put the offer on the table Dec. 7, according to the story reported by Anthony McCarron and Mark Feinsand.

The report says the offer to the free-agent left-hander was actually a ploy by the Red Sox, designed to not only drive up the asking price for Lee but keep the Yankees occupied while Boston locked up Crawford.

While Boston went on to sign Crawford for seven years and $142 million, the Yankees remain in a heated battle with the Texas Rangers to add Lee to their pitching staff.

According to an unnamed source the Daily News reports that Boston's offer was purposely on the low side monetarily. But the Red Sox hoped the news media would report their seven-year interest at the Winter Meetings.

By Seth Livingstone