David Ross: Brian McCann Really Wanted To Come To Boston

Former teammates David Ross and Brian McCann after a McCann home run when both were members of the Atlanta Braves. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

As you know, catching star Brian McCann signed with the Yankees this past off-season on a 5-year $85 million dollar deal. McCann had spent the first 9 years of his career with the Atlanta Braves and from 2009 to 2012 he played alongside fellow catcher David Ross. Ross, McCann’s good friend, is in his second season with the Boston Red Sox and shared some very interesting insight into how McCann almost joined him on the Red Sox:

"Early on I did (think McCann would go to the Red Sox). I knew he wanted to come here, a lot. I had just told him what it was like here and that interested him."

Not interested enough it would seem as, McCann took the Yankees’ bucks instead of deciding to play with his friend Ross. Of course McCann’s donning of pinstripes wasn’t out of the blue for Ross. The 2013 World Series Champion spoke about how McCann broke the news about the Yankees’ very alluring offer:

"We went on a guys’€™ trip and he had told me the Yankees had made a pretty good offer early on and he was probably going to be a Yankee…I didn’t say anything because that’€™s a lot of money and I don’€™t want to be messing up anybody’€™s thing."

Ross said that he stopped campaigning for McCann to sign with Boston because the Yankees offered much more money than the Sox and he’d have to do what was best for his family.