There has a been a rumor going around this morning that started on a Kansas City radio station that the Boston Red Sox were set to trade Coco Crisp to the Kansas City Royals for reliever Ramon Ramirez.
According to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe, the rumor has now been confirmed as the Red Sox will announce the trade at noon today.
Update:
The trade is official now. The Red Sox receive Ramon Ramirez from the Royals in exchange for Coco Crisp.
For the Red Sox, it’s a salary dump as Coco was set to receive $5.75 million in 2009 and has an $8 million option with a $500K buyout in 2010. Ramirez isn’t even arbitration-eligible yet and will be under the control of the Red Sox for 4 seasons.
The move hands Jacoby Ellsbury the starting center field position and a chance to play on an every day basis. Last season, he shared center field with Coco and also played the other outfield positions, giving Coco a chance to showcase his skills.
In 118 games last season, Crisp hit .283 with 7 home runs, 41 RBI and 20 stolen bases. His OBP was .344.
Ramirez appeared in 71 games last season and finished with 2.64 ERA striking out 70 in 71.2 innings.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has a take from a Major League scout on Ramirez.
“Throws 92-95 with a heavy, late-life fastball . . . Gets away with mistakes over the middle of the plate because his fastball has so much late life . . . second-best arm in that bullpen (to Joakim Soria) . . . Likes to challenge hitters . . . Definitely a setup man with potential to be a closer down the road . . . Plus fastball, plus slider, has a splitter or something that resembles a splitter . . . Average command . . . Deceptive delivery makes it hard for righthanded hitters to pick up his fastball . . . Hitters can’t pick up his arm slot on the backside . . . Needs to tweak his off-speed pitches . . . Can throw his slider too hard . . . Very athletic. Fields his position well . . . Has an above-average 1.22 [second] release point [from the breaking of his hands to catchers mitt] on his slide step, 1.3 from the windup . . . Works fast.”
With the Red Sox acquiring Ramirez for the back end of their bullpen, it could mean that the Red Sox will be moving Justin Masterson back into the starting rotation. It could also mean that they could trade some pitching to the Rangers for catching. Of course that’s all speculation right now.
