| 02 June 2009
When the Sox traded Coco Crisp to Kansas City for Ramon Ramirez I was convinced that we would regret not having him as our fourth outfielder.
I knew that Coco was tired of playing second fiddle to Jacoby and probably would have become a clubhouse cancer if he stayed, but he hit .315 in the second half and .375 in September, so I think my feeling we're justified.
Well... I'm over it.
Call me fickle if you want to, but the Coco/Ram Ram deal is looking like a stroke of genius right now. I'm still a big Coco fan... but it's hard to argue with these stats:
1. Coco is currently hitting .233 as the Royals leadoff man. He has scored 29 runs and has already hit 3 ding dongs (he had 7 total in '08) but he's .233 is pretty bad...
2. That said... Rocco Baldelli is hitting just .244 with two homers and six RBI as the Red Sox back-up outfielder. But if you combine that with Jonathan Van Every's .364 BA through 7 games you get a .304 BA from you extra OFs.
Now here's where the trade really starts to look good...
3. With a full time role in centerfield and in the leadoff spot Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting .299 with 28 runs scored, 15 RBI and 21 stolen bases. His .335 OBP is actually lower than Coco's and pretty bad for a leadoff guy, but you can't argue with the BA... or the 23-game hitting streak.
As long as Ellsbury hovers between .280 and .300, there's no reason not to keep him at the top of the line up, but if he falls into a funk, we might see Tito mix up the line up like he did on Sunday. But overall, Jacoby is the better player right now.
4. Ramon Ramirez has been a stabilizing force in the bullpen. He did not allow a run in his first 13 appearances this season (14.1 IP) and has only allowed four all season - two of those coming on his first bad outing of the season on Saturday. But he bounced back the next day with a solid inning and owns a 1.38 ERA on the year. His BB/K rate (9/14) is not as good as Delcarmen's (9/18) or Papelbon's (11/25) or even Okajima's (4/17)... but with four wins, seven holds and a team leading 26 innings pitched, he's been a key RP for us this season.
Bottom Line: There's still alot of baseball to be played, but the starts struggling, the offense and the bullpen has carried the team through these first two months and Ramirez and Ellsbury have been major factors in those two areas.
Photo: daylife.com
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