Sunday, November 30, 2008

The Ramirez for Crisp Trade

Ramon Ramirez had the best season of his brief three-year Major League career in 2008. He was 3-2 with a 2.64 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 71 appearances, so it wasn’t surprising when a contender came calling about him. What was surprising was that Dayton Moore parted with him in exchange for Coco Crisp—especially given the reports that the Royals are “quietly shopping Guillen.”

If the Royals are shopping Jose Guillen (and oh how I hope they are), then our 2009 outfield might look considerably different. Who knows who we might get in exchange for Guillen, but I doubt that it would be another power hitting outfielder who is ready to step in an play. What would be the point for the other team? Instead, I can see it being more good young pitching. So, if Guillen gets moved, our 2009 outfield might consist of David DeJesus in left, Coco Crisp in center, and Mark Teahen in right (assuming he isn’t dealt away, and it sounds like the Cubs are still interested in him). Given the lack of power that these guys display, wouldn’t such an outfield be contrary to what Moore keeps saying he wants out there?

Crisp only got 361 at bats last year in Boston. Let’s project his numbers from last year based on 518 at bats since that’s how many DeJesus got. Here’s how their numbers from last year would look:

 

AB

HR

RBI

BB

SB

AVG

OBP

Crisp

518

10

58

50

28

.283

.344

DeJesus

518

12

73

46

11

.307

.366

Teahen

572

15

59

46

4

.255

.313

Does this look like an outfield that is going to scare anybody? I like the idea of DeJesus hitting in the three hole. If he hit there all year, I think he’d have a career year. He can handle the bat, he can drive the ball occasionally, and he simply finds a way to get on base. He’s not the prototypical three hole hitter, but he would be fine there. Crisp would be fine at the top of the lineup as well. Let’s assume that Jacobs would hit fourth. Who hits after him? Billy Butler? Alex Gordon? Teahen? Butler would probably get the nod, but is he going to be enough protection for Jacobs?

Moore still has work to do this offseason and maybe he has something in the works to account for all of this. But looking at the Crisp trade with the information we have right now, it’s a hard one to understand.

3 comments:

larryz said...

Nice to have your blog back up and running. GO ROYALS!

Lee Warren said...

Thanks Larry.

larryz said...

Being from Pittsburgh, DeJesus reminds me a bit of Pirates star Nate McLouth. Maybe with a little less power, but who knows? The Pirates right field porch in PNC is a hitters paradise. If david was on the Bucs he might also have 20+ home runs. I agree that DeJesus is on the cusp of something great. 2009 might be his breakout year.

 
Clicky Web Analytics