Boston Herald: Crisp In Trade Talks

Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald and Buster Olney of ESPN are hearing the same thing: that Coco Crisp is available in trade talks.  In fact, Crisp was offered to the White Sox for a starting pitcher.  The Sox have six of ’em, so it’s anybody’s guess.  Maybe a buy low attempt on the fatigued Mark Buehrle?  Nah.

Crisp is hitting just .269/.322/.389 since returning from a broken finger and kidney stones on May 28th.  His OBP is not down because he’s drawing fewer walks – in fact, his walk rate has remained remarkably steady for years.  It’s down because Crisp’s OBP is normally driven by a .300 average and the hits aren’t quite there this season.  That’s the problem with an OBP reliant on base hits.  The culprit may be a reduction in Crisp’s contact rate.  Normally he puts the bat on the ball 86% of the time but this year he’s down to 83%.

Even an average center fielder should post a .335 OBP and .425 SLG, and normally Crisp tops that.  He’s still just 26.  Defensively, Crisp is one of the game’s best as a left fielder.  In center field, not so much.

The Red Sox seemingly wanted to keep Crisp around, signing him to a three year contract extension in April.  However, they did trade Bronson Arroyo after signing him to a contract extension.