Postgame Spread: Cuckoo For Coco

Monday, January 23, 2006

I should be thrilled. Coco Crisp and Alex Gonzalez are coming to Boston to plug the Sox' remaining holes. The offseason is officially over.

But I'm ticked that Marte is going. I got excited about the idea of having a young positional prospect emerge either this year or next. Now that won't happen. The fact that they got Marte without taking one of our glut of starters (Matt Clement???) as part of the deal really pisses me off.

But that's small potatoes. We're ready to play now. Bring it on.

8 Comments:

No, that was Luis. Alex is the guy who has two World Series rings with Florida, but doesn't know which end of the bat to hold onto. He's seeking $5m per season, which is a real travesty.

Late-breaking news that should have resolved my Marte/Mota concerns: David Riske has been thrown into the deal. News that throws me right back into concern: Kelly Shoppach, our top catching prospect, is going to Cleveland as well. When was the minor-league fire sale announced?

I'm really trying to focus on Coco here, but we just gave up two close-to-ready prospects and a worthwhile setup gamble, and are receiving a quality CF and a reliever (Riske) whose track record is reflective of his last name.

If you love Coco Crisp, this deal might make sense. But I just got to know Andy Marte. I don't like the idea of having acquired him as a bargaining chip for more major-league talent. I want to see some homegrown talent emerge, goddammit!!!

By Jeff, at 10:05 AM
But regardless of the damage, this trade damn near guarantees us 100 wins. On paper.

I did just have a sobering thought. What if Schilling isn't healthy? Changes the whole complexion. I doubt Beckett will be quite enough to carry the rotation. Maybe that's why Clement and Arroyo are still in town...

By Jeff, at 10:09 AM
Yeah, and it's not like Beckett has exactly been an innings eater. I think he was an enormous pickup, but while I wouldn't call him fragile, I wouldn't be inclined to refer to him as especially durable either.

Prospect and stat guys seem pretty disappointed in the trade to me. There's still a good chance that Lowell starts sucking badly, Crisp doesn't quite turn into the defensive CFer his LF defense implies he should be able to do (remember the M's experiment with Randy Winn?), and Crisp could have already hit his ceiling. If that's true, This could look pretty bad.

By Jesse, at 6:54 PM
This deal makes me nervous.

The deal only makes sense for Boston if a) Mota is damaged goods and b) Crisp is about to emerge. In my expert opinion, neither is true. If I'm wrong, the deal is a win-win; if not, the deal is robbery.

By Jeff, at 1:22 AM
And the idea of paying Alex Gonzalez $5 million per year??? Absolutely nuts. Irresponsible. Cristian Guzman should be the cautionary tale to tell here. There's a good likelihood that Gonzalez will be benched by the end of this year due to complete ineptitude at the plate. You're gonna give THAT guy $5 million???

By Jeff, at 1:24 AM
Well, it's fixing your immediate needs while Schilling a few others have another shot at a ring, that's pretty valuable. And if long term was always the only concern a team would never win, just plan ahead, like the A's. Right? I'm not saying I think it's good, I think it might be overpaying. But maybe Marte is damaged goods.

I agree about Gonzalez, but it's not like there were a lot of other options or the Sox are really hurting on cash. Better that than losing more minor league talent for somebody.

By Jesse, at 3:56 PM
The Sox have Alex Cora, who is an above-average defensive player who can't hit. Basically he's Alex Gonzalez, except not as superlative defensively. But Cora is playing for damn near the minimum; Gonzalez is being thrown an annual salary that makes the Cristian Guzman deal look like a steal. Why should they throw $5 million out the window if they're only making a nominal upgrade at SS? Sure, Cora's an inferior player, but $5 million a year inferior? Not at all. And I don't even like Cora.

Also, the "immediate need" argument doesn't work if Schilling gets hurt. Or if Mike Lowell doesn't work out. Either way, they'd look like complete friggin idiots. And if Schilling isn't healthy, what's the point? I don't think 2007 is far off enough to qualify as long-term. They'd have mortgaged 2007 in order to benefit a lame duck Schilling-less 2006. So how immediate does immediate have to be?

The bottom line is that they have a surplus of starting pitchers, and they're trading two of their best positional prospects to Cleveland. What am I supposed to do with that information, other than choke on my 2004 World Series DVD as I swallow it?

I could see trading Hanley Ramirez for Josh Beckett... Hanley is a potential superstar, but so is Beckett. So is Andy Marte. So isn't Coco Crisp. The guy's a good player but I can't see him making much of a leap above what he's already doing. And as if that's not enough of a reason to not make the deal, the Sox are throwing in more guys to sweeten the deal! They're apparently trying to break the record for most minor-league talent squandered.

It's just not that bright a deal. I recognize they're a little screwed, but that's when you make little deals. Overpay for Jason Michaels or Dave Roberts... you won't be destroying the team's whole future to plug the hole. Bite the bullet. Stop trying to make Sox fans calm down, because we will never calm down. Just make the smart move and live with it.

By Jeff, at 5:10 PM
From Jayson Stark:

...it's also possible that, with the firing of Reds GM Dan O'Brien, the Indians and Red Sox will attempt to revive their much-discussed three-way trade with Cincinnati that would have sent Kearns to Cleveland, Crisp to Boston and Matt Clement to Cincinnati. It was O'Brien who killed the most recent version of that one last week.

See, this actually makes sense. The Sox have too many starters, the Reds have too many outfielders, and the Indians want Jason Michaels. So maybe we send Delcarmen to Cleveland, so that Rhodes can go to Philadelphia. As much as I like Delcarmen, him + Clement is 100% worth a guy like Crisp. Better him than Marte.

By Jeff, at 5:17 PM