Josh Beckett: Red Sox Made Me Fake Injury

"We made up an injury so that Aaron Cook could get called up so he couldn't opt out and go to the Yankees," Becket said

Former Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett revealed Thursday that the team forced him to make up an injury in 2012 in order to add another player to the roster.

Josh Beckett, who was traded to the Los Angeles Dogers in 2012, told The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich that the Red Sox forced him to the 15-day DL with a phantom injury to prevent losing Aaron Cook to the Yankees.

"Aaron Cook had an opt-out in his contract," Beckett said. "I was pitching terrible — which is my fault — so we made up an injury so that he could get called up so he couldn't opt out and go to the Yankees. And that was the thing. But I don't think that that's actually legal to do. I don't think you can just phantom DL somebody."

Beckett said no one in the organization backed him, and he knew that was the end of his tenure with Red Sox.

"And that's the whole thing that I had a problem with — that nobody really stood up," he said. "So that's when I kind of knew, 'This is what the end looks like.'"

He also said the infamous "chicken and beer" clubhouse story that broke in the Boston Globe "was turned into a lot bigger deal than I thought it was," saying that drinking beer is commonplace in clubhouses around the league.

Beckett said he doesn't know if or how many times the Red Sox has placed players on the DL with a phantom injury.

Red Sox fans praised the candid interview on social media.

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