Decision due Monday on Crawford surgery

NEW YORK – The Boston Red Sox plan to decide Monday whether left fielder Carl Crawford will have season-ending surgery on his left elbow. Crawford has been playing with pain since coming off the disabled list last month. He has said he’s been told he will need Tommy John surgery at some point to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm. Crawford was in the starting lineup Sunday night against the New York Yankees. The Red Sox are off Monday. “We’ll take that time to talk with Carl and the doctors and kind of get to the bottom of this entire situation,” manager Bobby Valentine said. Asked if the discussion would be about whether Crawford needs surgery at all or simply when he should have it, general manager Ben Cherington said: “A little of both.” If he has the ligament-replacement surgery, it’s estimated Crawford could return to the lineup six to nine months later. The fourth-place Red Sox began the day 59-62, leaving them 121⁄2 games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East and 61⁄2 out in the wild-card race. “We’ll focus the decision more on what’s best for Carl,” Cherington said.