Dayton Moore's busy offseason continued on Wednesday as he made another trade, acquiring outfielder Coco Crisp from the Red Sox in exchange for reliever Ramon Ramirez. Crisp had been on the trading block for awhile, ever since the emergence of Jacoby Ellsbury in the Boston outfield. He's a career .280 hitter, who draws a decent amount of walks, doesn't have much power, and is a threat to run, with 20 or more stolen bases in each of the last three seasons. He had a brilliant year defensively in 2007, but was just in the years before and after; overall, it looks like he's a slightly above average center fielder.
Crisp goes from one crowded outfield to another, as the Royals already have Mark Teahen, David DeJesus, and Jose Guillen. This move, which comes three weeks after Kansas City picked up Mike Jacobs from the Marlins, suggests that Moore has yet another transaction in mind, and that Teahen, or even DeJesus, could be traded to free up an outfield spot.
The Red Sox dealt from a strength -- they still have an excellent starting outfield of Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury, and J.D. Drew -- and received an asset you can really never have enough of, in a quality bullpen arm. The 28-year old Ramirez has an excellent season in 2008, with a 2.84 ERA in 71.2 innings. Some of that success won't continue though, as he allowed just two home runs despite allowing an average number of fly balls.
He was very good in other areas, notching 70 strikeouts, a rate of 8.8 per nine innings. Ramirez joins an increasingly strong Boston bullpen; Jonathan Papelbon is one of the best closers in baseball, and they now have four above average relievers to bridge the gap to him, with Ramirez, Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, and Justin Masterson.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-01-2008 @ 12:28PM
Goldie said...
Coco... Good luck to you. I always liked you even when your offense was so-so. It was nice to see you step it up a few notches this season and especially post season. I always enjoyed watching you run the bases and in the outfield. MANY memorable amazing catches!!! I will miss you and wish you luck wherever you end up. I hope this doesn't end up biting us on the ass!!!
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11-20-2008 @ 3:38PM
Forrest Freedman said...
Sorry folks but this trade will come back to bite the red sox in the Ass. No offense to Ramirez as the Sox and everyone else always needs bridge relievers to get to their closer...BUT...to rely on the red Sox outfield to go through a entire season without injuries...is a big leap of faith. JD Drew carried the team in June but was done for all intensive purposes in August-Sept (when team really needed him). Both Ellsbury and Bey, while great when healthy have also suffered injuries and are no iron men. Coco Crisp was the perfect 4th outfielder to spell the rest as Ellsbury and Crisp could play any outfield position. Also Crisp off the bench was not a bad pinch hitter either, or pinch runner and could steal you a base in the late innings when Ortiz(slow as a turtle-not his fault) got on base and you needed the winning or tying run.
Don't get me wrong, getting rid of bad apple Manny ramirez was a good idea, but you do not want to trade a A-/B+ back up player that could still have a carrer year and hit 300+. Also Crisp was above average agains tthe Yankees and I assess trades by quality wins (not just wins) and the Royal reliever stats come against teams that are already thinking that they are playing triple a ball players as the Royals are cheapskates. I believe the reliever's stats are skewed and because Theo lives by stats, (albeit no with my analysis - i.e. team by team performance breakdown of stats) I believe he made a mistake this time.
Still no one's perfect. Go Red Sox Go!!!
Dustin Pedroia MVP A-OK with me!!
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11-20-2008 @ 9:31PM
rohman said...
go royals
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11-28-2008 @ 4:39PM
Austin said...
Really? This was not a good trade for the Royals. Our GM went out to get the power bat that we so desparately needed, but, that went against the system and the team he's been trying to build (not to mention loading that first base position, probably provoking a trade of one of our young first basemen). The main reason this Crisp trade is worthless and possibly harmful to the Royals is because of the Jacobs trade. Crisp fit the system of fast, sure-handed, solid hitting players. But, again, we went against the system by obtaining Jacobs. In this case, two negatives do not make a positive. But good luck to the Royals!
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12-10-2008 @ 3:52PM
John S said...
Maybe someday the Royals will go back to a strategy that worked well back in the late seventies and early eighties - speed and guys who could make contact. Then teams got caught up in the power game. Those days are over. Speed is the future. http://www.grandcanyonquotes.com
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