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Crisp Shipped To Kansas City For Reliever Ramirez
By Administrator | November 19, 2008
According to ESPN, the Red Sox have traded center fielder Coco Crisp to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for righthanded relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez.
Crisp hit .283, with 7 HR, 41 RBI and 20 stolen bases in 361 at-bats last year for the Sox, his third season in Boston. He started 98 games in center field platooning with rookie Jacoby Ellsbury, but he had made it clear to the ballclub that he would not be happy in a platoon role or as a fourth outfielder and wanted to be traded to a club where he would be given the chance to be an everyday player.
Ramirez appears to be an outstanding acquisition for the Red Sox… at the very least, he will replace recently-departed (free agent) Mike Timlin in the bullpen. But his arrival may also pave the way for the ballclub to do one of two things: 1) trade Justin Masterson to the Texas Rangers in exchange for a catcher — Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden, or 2) convert Masterson back into a starting pitcher (a decision which may ultimately be dependent upon what happens with free agent AJ Burnett and Derek Lowe).
Ramirez, 27, throws in the low-to-mid 90s and possesses a plus-plus curveball and plus changeup. He broke in with the Colorado Rockies in 2006 (4-3, 3.46) but then backslid through a brutal 2007 season that was caused by elbow troubles (2-2, 8.31).
After being traded to the KC Royals last winter he had an excellent campaign… he went 3-2, with a 2.64 ERA, in 71.2 innings pitched while allowing only 57 hits and 31 walks. He struck out 70 batters.
He limited righthanded hitters to a .153 average in 137 at-bats — the lowest in the AL and third best in the major leagues among pitchers with at least 50 games (only the Cubs’ Carlos Marmol (.103) and Philadelphia’s Brad Lidge (.105) compiled a better BAA against righties).
Oh yeah… Ramirez’ career ERA outside Coors Field is just 2.15!
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The bottom line is this: the trade is virtually a no-risk proposition for the Red Sox.
According to Peter Gammons, there was a surprisingly small market for Crisp, despite his second-half surge and his playoff performance.
The trade clears approximately $5.3 million from the payroll (Crisp’s $5.7 million salary less Ramirez’ $400,000 salary +/-)… money that can be assigned to the contract of someone like Mark Teixeira or AJ Burnett (or Derek Lowe).
The trade provides the Red Sox bullpen with a young, power arm that, in turn, provides the ballclub with several options: they could decide to keep both pitchers in the bullpen, convert Masterson into a starting pitcher, trade Masterson to Texas for a catcher.
The possibility that the team might convert Masterson back into a closer, as opposed to trading him, also allows them to be more judicious in the way they approach the free agent market — notably the potential market for Burnett and Lowe.
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Update (5:16 PM):
During an afternoon press conference, GM Theo Epstein lauded Ramirez: “We believe we’ve acquired a young, controllable reliever that can really help our bullpen. He has a plus fastball, 92 to 95 miles per hour, and an outstanding power changeup. A lot of people think it’s a split, it’s actually a changeup, 87 to 88. That’s a swing-and-miss pitch for him against lefthanded and righthanded hitters. (He also has) a pretty good slider. He’s very quietly had a tremendous amount of success in the major leagues over the last two seasons. We were looking for that type of upgrade to add to our bullpen”.
Okay, so Theo almost got it right… he’s had a lot of succes in two of the last three seasons.
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Update (Thursday morning):
Crisp, on the trade: “It’s kind of bittersweet. I like the guys in Boston a lot, the front office. I enjoyed playing in a city where the fans were pretty much crazy about the Red Sox. I never played in front of that type of crowd before in my life — that part was fun. Now, the sweet part comes in: I’m going to an organization (where) I know I’ll be able to go out and play every day. That’s what I’ve wanted to do my entire life, just go out and play the game of baseball”.
Topics: Sox Front Office, Sox Players, SoxTransactions |
