Dodgers will let Drew tampering matter drop

After briefly contemplating filing tampering charges against the Boston Red Sox for acting improperly in discussions with the agent for J.D. Drew, the Dodgers have decided against taking any action, baseball sources said Monday.

Drew opted out of the last three years of his contract Nov. 10, walking away from $33 million and raising suspicion that agent Scott Boras had discussed Drew with another team while the outfielder was still a Dodger. Drew signed a five-year, $70-million deal with the Red Sox last week.

The Red Sox and Boras denied any impropriety, which would have been difficult to prove. The Dodgers hadn’t seriously considered asking Major League Baseball to investigate until a column last week in the New York Times suggested tampering had occurred, leading General Manager Ned Colletti to say Friday, “We’ve looked into” filing charges.

Another Boras client, free-agent pitcher Eric Gagne, has yet to sign despite Boras saying last week that he expected the former Dodgers closer to come to an agreement by the end of the winter meetings, which ended Thursday. Although the Dodgers offer of a guaranteed $4 million with performance incentives that could bring the value to $10 million was not much lower than other offers Gagne has received, a Dodgers official said Boras has not been in contact with the team since the winter meetings. It is unclear whether the Dodgers offer is still on the table because they re-signed closer Takashi Saito.

The Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds have been mentioned as suitors for Gagne. The Red Sox have reportedly bowed out of negotiations for him.