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Royals get Coco…Are they any better?

By Gary Armida

It is never wise to judge a team’s moves at the very beginning of the hot stove season. Sometimes, a team will make a trade as a precursor to another trade. It is only after the next trade (or two), that the true rationale is shown. It is difficult to withhold judgment, but sometimes one has to take a rational approach. Yesterday, the Kansas City Royals made another seemingly questionable trade as they dealt 26 year old hard throwing reliever Ramon Ramirez to the Boston Red Sox for 29 year old centerfielder Coco Crisp. While this trade is infinitely better than the Royals’ first deal for Mike Jacobs (the one that sent another hard throwing young reliever off), this still leaves much to be desired.

Sox Get Stronger

Before diving into the Royals’ perspective, the Red Sox get a good, young, hard throwing right handed reliever in Ramirez. The 26 year old is coming off a tremendous season in which he appeared in 71 games. In those 71 appearances, Ramirez threw 71.2 innings, gave up just 57 hits, walked 31 and struck out 70. He compiled a 2.62 ERA and a 1.228 WHIP. Ramirez is lights out against right handed batters, holding them to a .198/.275/.311 line. He does struggle against left handed batters as southpaws hit .283/.355/.403 against him. Ramirez throws around 94 miles per hour and throws a hard slider.

With Ramirez in the Red Sox bullpen, Boston GM Theo Epstein has a few options. He could elect to put Justin Masterson back into the rotation and have Ramirez take Masterson’s righty specialist role. Masterson threw to the tune of a 3.67 ERA in 54 innings as a starter last season before being moved to the bullpen. Or, this trade simply gives the Red Sox another arm to run out from their deep bullpen.

The Red Sox do, however, trade their outfield depth by dealing their best defensive outfielder. This means that Jacoby Ellsbury will be the everyday centerfielder instead of playing all three outfield positions. Offensively, the Red Sox do not lose much as Crisp was not a key cog in the Sox attack. But, he did afford them the luxury of having a solid major league hitter when JD Drew was injured or when Ellsbury struggled. The Sox will have to find a competent fourth outfielder before the ‘09 season starts.

Overall, this is another great trade by the Red Sox organization. Ramirez is not a star, but he is a talented, hard throwing reliever that gives the Red Sox roster and payroll flexibility.

The Active, Puzzling Royals

Coco Crisp is a perfectly fine baseball player. He plays an above average centerfield, is an average hitter, and runs the bases well. For his career he is a .280/.331/.406 hitter with 56 homeruns and 124 stolen bases during his seven year career. In fact, Crisp has stolen at least 15 bases in his last six seasons.  

Does having Coco Crisp in centerfield make the Royals better? The answer is “somewhat”. Crisp represents an offensive upgrade from Mark Teehan who posted just a .311 OBP in 572 at bats last season. By putting Crisp in center and shifting the underrated David DeJesus to left field, the Royals’ defense is quite improved, even if Jose Guillen is the right fielder. But, the Royals just traded away their best setup man in Ramirez just two weeks after dealing their second best setup man in Leo Nunez. Now, the only reliable reliever leading up to closer Joakim Soria is 38 year old left hander Ron Mahay.

The Royals took one of their few strengths and turned it into a glaring weakness that must be addressed this winter. The cost of Crisp may very well end up losing more games for the Royals than Crisp can win for them. Even more puzzling is the fact that Ramirez was under the Royals control making just under $400,000 last season. Crisp is due to make $5.75 million this season and has an option close to $10 million for next year. If a small market team worries about money, then it cannot afford to trade its cheap strength to acquire a more expensive player who does not make them infinitely better.

On the surface, this trade looks bad for GM Dayton Moore and the Royals organization. Coco Crisp will be a solid everyday player for the Royals this season. He will probably revert to his Cleveland Indians’ days when he was a .300 hitter with 15-17 homeruns and 20 or so stolen bases. But, the cost of acquiring him just doesn’t make sense for the Royals.

Part of a Bigger Plan?

The only saving grace to this trade is the possibility of this being a prelude to a bigger, better trade. With Crisp in town, the Royals can look to move Mark Teehan for some useful parts or they could look into trading the higher in demand DeJesus. The Cubs are rumored to be interested in Teehan while there is the long-rumored DeJesus and pitcher Zack Greinke to the Yankees rumor in exchange for Robinson Cano.

Royals’ fans should hope that this trade is just a first in a flurry of deals. If the Royals go into the season with DeJesus, Crisp, Guillen in the outfield and Gordon, Aviles, Callaspo, and Jacobs in the infield, they are only slightly better offensively. But, given the fact that the bullpen is severely damaged, the Royals are actually made worse by executing this trade. That is, of course, if the Royals don’t find replacements for their former relievers or if this is the final trade for the off season.

So, let’s refrain from judging the Royals at the moment. Let’s wait to see how the opening day roster is constructed. For now, let’s just be puzzled.

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