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|  Indians will be clear winners of Crisp trade
Indians will be clear winners of Crisp trade
Dayn Perry / FOXSports.com
After days of haggling and running through several iterations of the proposed deals, outfielder Coco Crisp is finally a member of the Red Sox.
Boston, to get Crisp, reliever David Riske and catcher Josh Bard from the Indians, had to part with third baseman Andy Marte, catcher Kelly Shoppach, reliever Guillermo Mota, a player to be named later and cash.
Shortly thereafter, the Tribe sent reliever Arthur Rhodes to the Phillies for outfielder Jason Michaels. These deals fill the center field hole for the Red Sox, further fortify Cleveland's impressive collection of young talent and buttress the long-troubling Phillies' bullpen.
Let's explore how these trades help (or harm) all teams involved.
Red Sox
The key to this deal for Boston, of course, is Crisp. He becomes the new starter in center field, and he's not a bad proxy for the recently departed Johnny Damon. Here's how their 2005 numbers compare:
Plate Appearances AVG/OBP/SLG
Damon 688 .316/.366/.439
Crisp 656 .300/.338/.456
As you can see, those are similar batting lines. What Crisp gives away in OBP, he makes up for with superior power production (Jacobs Field also serves to suppress offensive power numbers these days).
Damon is slightly better with the glove in center, but Crisp won't be a liability there by any means. If the Sox lose anything in going from Damon to Crisp, it's not much. He's an especially nifty addition at this late hour.
The pickup of Riske is also a good one. Over the last three seasons, he's posted a 3.04 ERA, averaged more than 70 innings a year and showed no platoon weakness. In 2005, Boston had almost no reliable right-handed relief behind Mike Timlin; so Riske certainly addresses a need.
Bard is altogether less inspiring. In his four-year career, he's logged roughly a full season's worth of plate appearances, and he's put up a batting line of .238 AVG/.289 OBP/.370 SLG. Shoppach, meanwhile, goes to Cleveland.
In the minors, Shoppach showed good power and posted strong walk rates at every level. Last season at AAA-Pawtucket, Shoppach hit .253 AVG/.352 OBP/.507 SLG with 26 homers in 371 at-bats. His right-handed fly-ball stroke would've played well at Fenway, and he also has experience catching knuckle-ballers in the minors. In other words, he would've been a nice fit on Boston's roster. As the backup catcher spot goes, the Red Sox have downgraded.
Overall, the Sox improved their team significantly, but those improvements exacted a cost in terms of young talent.
Indians
That young talent is going Cleveland's way. In Marte, the Indians add one of the ten best prospects in the game. He addresses one of the system's glaring needs — third base, and his bat projects as All-Star caliber. Since advancing beyond rookie ball, Marte has shown good plate discipline, flashed impressive raw power and developed into a top-shelf defender. To boot, he accomplished all this despite being younger than his peer group at every stop and toiling in the generally pitcher-friendly parks of the Braves' system.
There's some concern about Marte's injured elbow, but the Indians have done their due diligence and, internally, are satisfied with Marte's status going forward. Marte will open the season at AAA-Buffalo, but he should supplant Aaron Boone at third by mid-season.
As mentioned, Shoppach is a useful player, and, if he hits as expected, he'll provide good pop off the bench and become perhaps the best backup catcher in the American League. This is another nice score for Indians general manager Mark Shapiro and company.
As good as this deal is for Cleveland in the long-term, the bullpen has been compromised in the here and now. Last season, the Indians had perhaps the best bullpen in the game; but since then, they've lost Bob Howry to free agency and, of course, traded Riske to the Red Sox and Rhodes to the Phillies.
In Riske's place is Mota, who has been Riske's inferior in recent seasons and also has serious health concerns. The middle-relief corps is weakened, but at least the Indians were dealing from a position of strength. Also, a full season from Fernando Cabrera — perhaps the best relief prospect in the game — will certainly help. The question is whether or not Scott Sauerbeck can thrive as the lone lefty in the bullpen.
Thanks to the trade with Philadelphia, the Indians can now trot out a left field platoon of Michaels and Todd Hollandsworth. Michaels can man all three outfield positions, and he's a career .291 AVG/.380 OBP/.442 SLG hitter in the majors. He hasn't fared particularly well against right-handed pitching; so he'll cede most of the playing time to the lefty-hitting Hollandsworth. Michaels will do his part, but Hollandsworth — at least these days — isn't an adequate hitter by corner outfield standards. They'll lose runs in going from Crisp to this arrangement.
Phillies
It seems as though the Phillies' bullpen has been maligned for the last decade or so, and 2005 was no exception. Despite almost 80 star-quality innings from Billy Wagner, the Phillies still manage to rank only 10th in the National League in bullpen ERA. The problem was right-handed middle relief, and they've done little to improve that.
Rhodes, of course, is a lefty, and while he had a tremendous 2005, his numbers over the last three seasons are less impressive (136 innings, 3.77 ERA). However, what's good for the Phillies is that Rhodes has actually been more effective against right-handers throughout recent history. Since Philadelphia's problem last season was retiring right-handed batters in the middle innings, Rhodes will come in handy — provided he's not pigeonholed into the usual left setup man's role.
Overall, these are sensible deals for all three teams. In 2006, the Red Sox will benefit, but in future seasons, when Marte is establishing himself as a perennial All-Star, the Indians will look like the clear winners. |
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