TUESDAY, 3:49pm: Agent Steve Comte told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that Crisp wants to play for a winner and find a home for a few years. The Cubs and Cardinals are among the teams involved, Rosenthal tweets. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes first mentioned the Cubs' interest last week.
MONDAY, 9:12pm: Multiple teams remain interested and Crisp's agent declined to characterize discussions, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter).
8:00pm: The Cardinals are discussing a deal with free agent outfielder Coco Crisp, according to Yahoo's Steve Henson (on Twitter). If the sides complete the deal, Crisp would play center field and bat atop the Cardinals' order with Jon Jay moving over to right field.
The switch-hitting Crisp led the American League with 49 stolen bases in 2011, hitting .264/.314/.379 with 27 doubles as Oakland's center fielder. The California native seems to prefer West Coast teams, but explained in September that he’s also looking to play on a winner and find a good "financial situation" for himself.
If Crisp signs in St. Louis, then Carlos Beltran will probably have one less suitor. The move would provide the Cardinals with depth as Allen Craig recovers from last month's knee surgery.
PLEASE NO!!! Get Beltron or Fielder.
he droped boras. he is now a loranzo client
After the deal he got Pujols, so am I….
Beltran must be pushing for $14+ milly /yr or something. Counting Furcal’s $7 mill that would put them at $21 mill this offseason. I have my doubts Moz and Dewitt will go quite that high after seeing the Pujols offer.
you think they wouldn’t have given pujols 2/$42M?
Yea they would’ve, but for Pujols only. Their real offer wasn’t even for $21 mill / year upfront. At least a 3 mill / year was allegedly deferred. I’m thinking 2 yrs / $27 mill is about their cap for Beltran, but we shall see I reckon.
beltran is reported to be seeking 2/$25M with an option. that’d be less than $20M per season for beltran and furcal, and a really good use of the pujols money imo
if i were a cards fan i’d be really annoyed if they signed crisp instead
Sounds about right
I think they would have given him 1/42M
I like Craig, but he is nowhere near as good as Heyward.
Heyward is a better defender and younger but if you look at Craigs stats he hit over .300 and over 20 hrs in every level. He will do this also in majors once given the opportunity. That said it would not be a one for one trade but include others from Cards such as Cox.
i like craig, but i would trade him and mcclellan and westbrook for prado, jurrjens and a prospect
..Except the Braves definitely don’t need anymore pitching.
well i think just trading chambers, a lefty center fielder, and craig would get prado
He’s basically Skip Schumaker with a little more power and bats from the right side. No thanks.
who is basically skip? are you talking about craig? or crisp
I guess you couldn’t follow a conversation. Martin Prado is just like Skip with more power. Why would we trade all that for someone who potentially could be non-tendered in the future?
i can follow a conversation but when 10 names are mentioned in that conversation and you dont say who you are talking about it is hard to follow! and prado is a much better fielder at second than skip, and alot more power, big improvement. i might not give up craig for him, but if we sign crisp we have an overage of outfielders and you have to deal from your surplus.
5/6 homeruns a year is not “alot more power.”Why would we have tendered Skip if we didn’t play on him being an integralpart? They wouldn’t play him at second if they were worriedabout defensive statistics.
true,but crisp isnt the solution
5/6 homeruns a year is not “alot more power.”Why would we have tendered Skip if we didn’t play on him being an integralpart? They wouldn’t play him at second if they were worriedabout defensive statistics.
I guess you couldn’t follow a conversation. Martin Prado is just like Skip with more power. Why would we trade all that for someone who potentially could be non-tendered in the future?
I’m not sure how Coco has done as a leadoff hitter since years ago with the Sox, but unless he got a lot better hitting #1 I doubt he is leading off for the Cards. That said it was awesome to watch him on defense, speeds nice, and his bat isn’t awful.
Someone has to hit leadoff. As it stands today, I’d guess Jay….
I agree. Coco could leadoff but if I was the Cards I would try Furcal, or Jay before I resorted to that.
i just think a lineup with shumaker, crisp and jay is power lacking, i mean molina has alittle pop and furcal too but even they dont hit alot of homers and we dont know what freese will do, i just think all that speed wont make up for a loss of power
schumaker isnt starting, its dscalso at 2nd according to mo, and jay will only start for a month till craig is back. but youre right, if those 3 were all penciled in for the season i’d be concerned too.
I think Jay vs. Crisp is a platoon waiting to happen. Crisp vs. LH, Jay vs. most RH. And whoever doesn’t start is a late inning replacement for Craig/Berkman/Holliday.
I just think if the Cards add Crisp, they start to limit the value Schumaker has to the team.
james shields a 4 or 5 starter????…if the Cards got Shields he would be our 2 or 3 starter…james shields is wayyy better than jaime
haha that whole post was complete sarcasm
do you think craig, mcclellan and westbrook and throw in a jose garcia and someone else would be enough to get shields?
im not sure, i think that if we included westbrook that would make us give more, so take out garcia and maybe throw in martinez and it could get it done maybe, they might be asking for a kings ransom though
i wasnt talking about garcia our pitcher, jose garcia is a minor league short stop of ours that has some potential, and mcclellan is a good reliever, westbrook a starter and of course craig is a stud, so they get a good package and i would think the payroll going both directions would be comparable
i knew who you were refering too, i just ment since westbrooke was in there that it would be negative trade value and that we would need a better prospect in there than garcia
i see,i read your post wrong, i think martinez added would be too much, im sure they could find some combination without giving up the farm
i don’t think the rays would give him up for anything short of a top prospect with what the padres just got for Latos
i don’t think the rays would give him up for anything short of a top prospect with what the padres just got for Latos
Throw in Martinez! to go with Craig! No Thanks, The Cards have no need for Shields even though he is a nice pitcher. Only way this is done if the Cards could spin off Shields for Montero and Bettances. In that situation why not just keep what you have?
i would never want this, i was just answering his question, thats what i think it could take, and i think we seriously overvalue craig here, don’t get me wrong, i love him, but hes not as good as we think
not a chance, Westbrook makes a deal worse and McClellan does little for a team like the Rays who already have at least 10 better pitchers, though Craig might be a good player to build a package around.
so craig, jose garcia, he’s a short stop,plus cox and brian anderson or cruz? sound like a sound package. we have to get rid of westbrook then.
Was rumored that the package for Shields in the Reds-Rays talks was the same one that went to SD for Latos except TB wanted Mesaroco instead of Grandal.
Craig’s a stud. McClellan and Westbrook are good not great pitchers and Jose Garcia is not nearly as highly touted as an Alonso or maybe even Grandal (ableit at a very different position).
If a package built around great long term options at 1B and DH for the Rays (both needs of theirs, more than pitching) didn’t do it for Shields, methinks the package mentioned above wouldn’t quite do it either.
= piglatin
The quote at top says he looking for the west coast or a winner AND find a good financial situation. He made $5.75 mil last year. Every other FA signing has been for too much. I’d guess 1/6 or 2/12
if we give coco 6 mil and not beltran 12mil i would be deeply dissappointed!
The difference would be 1/6 vs 2/25-3/36. One year deals aren’t bad. Even if it’s a slight overpay…
honestly we have money for both him and beltran, then package craig for prado or another better starter
I also feel the Cardinals were going in the right direction by letting Pujols take the money and go elsewhere. However, I also feel they are doing all they can at this point… Other than Fielder and Rollins, the free agent market is really thin on healthy and dependable (stats wise) players. As for Fielder, it just doesn’t make sense to give him all the money he wants. Pujols would have just been an overpay b/c he’s Pujols. As for Rollins, there is no way they could have gotten him for $11 million a year. He was looking for someone to majorly overpay (just like the Pujols situation) and when no one would he ended up back in Philly… I agree that I don’t think Coco is the answer and Beltran is a MUCH better option. However, the Cardinals are a smart organization and may not feel comfortable giving a player with Beltran’s health history the kind of money he is wanting…
NOOOOO!!!
He coulda stole 12 and he would of been the Cardinals team leader. Hopefully, we have him running often.
Why don’t the Twins sign him? They lost both corner OFers, and need some bench players.
Glad you consider this a Pujols replacement. LOL
I think it’s safe to say that was sarcasm.
Haha – let’s hope!
Bizarre to consider. If he can get on base better than he has in recent years, then his speed might boost this offense and take it in another direction. However, I don’t see anything in his stats to suggest that such a change is likely to happen.
Great he’s a healthy Furcal.
Better luck next time.
You get the idea Cardinals fans do not respect the idea of someone who brings GG defense, speed and plays the game all out in Crisp? Not to mention would be cheaper (most likely) than beltran.
Crisp is a lot better choice than Beltran. Cardinals fans are just still crying the blues over Pujols. Wake up.. He is long gone and.. Well, almost hard to find.
they could do worse than crisp, but beltran would be quite a bit better. you don’t win a world series, lose albert pujols, and suddenly get cheap
if they like crisp better than beltran for some reason that’s one thing. but choosing him because he’s cheaper would be a mistake
Overall what he can do is my reasoning. Play 3 positions and especially CF at GG ability, steal 30-50 bases, play with intesnity.
Crisp would be in a pretty good, spacey type stadium for his abilities also, lots of room for his slash and run style of game. Maybe some of it is my “love” of his style, defense and overall hustle on the field, but feel that he would be a perfect fit for many teams and Beltran, even though Crisp for 2 seasons had health issues, does not have a chronic issue that probably will never go away.
We just won a World Series with John Jay. Plays hard, durable, plays good defense, and plays cheap. Not the greatest hitter, but neither is Coco Crisp. Dislike…
Thats ok, everyone has opinions on certain players, I just came to respect Crisp as one of the hardest nosed, in your face type players ever saw in 40 years of watching the game when Crisp was with the Red Sox and on top of that? he is/was one with multiple talent for baseball.
Slash and run as good as about anyone and if a pitcher makes a mistake? he has the power to make them pay, which many speedy players lack, not to mention when he played CF with Boston was IMO the finest since Freddy Lynn and was the best with getting reads off of the bat since then also.. His arm is his only OF weakness.
Yes, my opinions may be tainted some since grew to appreciate his talents, but any team that ends up with him’s fans will end up appreciating his game more than who ends up with beltran and his crippled knees IMO.
Hit for .300 during the second major league season of his career. Let’s see what he can do. If you want a researve OF; how about Ankiel.
i’ll bite, who are you talking about?
Ethier has been in large decline…J-Ham should be getting a contract extension from the Rangers soon i imagine
Toronto gets a 12th OFer/DH type…
Derrick Goold
For folks asking if #Cardinals are “out” on Beltran b/c of Crisp “discussions”: Slow down. It hasn’t been reported. They’re still interested
Tweeted by Derrick Goold
So is the low OBP, at least over the last five years or so.
I could see that, if the club was willing to dedicate resources elsewhere.
With Craig coming back after a month, the Cards are in a difficult predicament. They can spend a lot on Beltran and get full utility for really only a month before Craig comes back. Then there’s a logjam with Berkman, Craig, Jay, and Holliday fighting for playing time at 3ish positions. I say 3ish because only Jay could play CF on a daily basis. So it’s hard to really be in favor of the Beltran signing.
Yet Crisp is light of bat, and the Cards need another heart-of-the-order hitter. If the club was looking to acquire a decent second baseman for ~$10 million a year and spend their resources that way, I’d be all for Crisp. He’d be perfect, actually. Only problem is, there isn’t anyone really available who fits that description.
You’re outraged at something that hasn’t even happened yet? It’s just as likely that the Cards leaked their interest in Crisp for leverage in the Beltran negotiations as it is that they’re actually trying to get him. Chill out, man.
Its Official, the Toronto Blue Jays have won the bidding for SP Yu Darvish at $52 000 000 (US)
you sure about that?
BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! That’s the sound of me puking EVERYWHERE. Cereal has never really gotten along with me.
BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! That’s the sound of me puking EVERYWHERE. Cereal has never really gotten along with me.
Cheap! That is the one word I think of when I think about this happening another pass on getting anybody that might help the team. Beltran or Crisp that is a no brainer I would take Beltran over him any day, I mean beltran might help with some of the offense in the middle of the lineup we have a whole bunch of players with no pop on are bench and in are lineup
Coco can be the Cardinals fighter, ask James Shields
I doubt he wants to talk about it.
Would that be before, or after the entire Rays team piled onto him?
As to Crisp’s preference to play for a winner.. he can always come back to Boston as the best #4 they have had in years.. Boston has been in the playoff hunt every year since the late 60’s, except for 1-2 seasons and played below .500 only 1 time as recall during the last 40 years.
That pretty well describes a perennial playoff contender/winner.
Coco can be the Cardinals fighter, ask James Shields
I don’t care how many bases he steals. I do NOT want a .314 OBP batting leadoff.
I actually wouldn’t mind signing Crisp if it’s to a one year deal (and if it isn’t for too much money). Beltran has obviously been a much better player in the past, but will cost more money and be for 2-3 years. Signing Crisp gives us someone to play the outfield/steal bases, and frees us up to spend some money next offseason when we have a lot more options. The biggest problem with people wanting the Cards to “spend the Pujols money now” is that there aren’t a lot of really good free agents out there right now. By saving a little money now, we could go in on a really good OF or SP next offseason. I think we’ll be able to compete this year regardless of who we sign for the OF (barring any major injuries, which is a very legitimate concern with our team right now), but I’m not sure we need to try and go all in for 2012 at the expense of keeping ourselves in good shape for the future.
Crisp is likely to be on a multi-year deal.
jose reyes highest obp in a season was .384 this last year. his average year is .341 lets not act like he is rickey henderson…crips obp would make you worry but he won’t be an everyday player when craig is back thats why i think the beltran talk is all smoke
Wanting to play for a winner pretty much knocks the Cubs out.
Question for fellow Cards fans. Which would you prefer if you had a choice?
Adding Crisp and Oswalt both on one-year deals. Money would be pretty much maxed out this year but would have a lot of money to spend after next season.
vs.
Signing Beltran for 2 years with an option for a 3rd? Signing Beltran would leave a little more flexibility this year for a possible trade or small signing but would have the OF pretty full for at least 2 more years.
I’d take Crisp and Oswalt hands down. Oswalt would make our rotation stellar, and Crisp could be a nice little piece. Plus, I want to be able to go after a big FA next year (Hamilton, Bourn).
Oswalt might be willing to take a couple mil less to come here. He’s said he wanted to pitch in STL many times.
Lohse and Westbrook are gone next year, presumably replaced by cheap talent from the farm. Berkman is only on a one year deal. What’s stopping the Cardinals from going after a big name next offseason anyway?
Shelby will be up and take Lohse’s spot, but we still have to fill the 4-spot. Plus, extensions to Yadi and Wainwright won’t be cheap. Matt Adams will be up to play first (assuming all goes well in AAA), and Craig will play RF. If we sign Beltran there might not be room for Bourn or Hamilton.
interesting that you threw Hamilton in there. Remember the during the World Series when he had a post-game interview? I think it was after game 2. He said he loves playing here. (in StL) I’d welcome that guy w/ open arms!
I could see him matching up great with Holliday. Killer lefty-righty combo. Bourn is much more likely however.
Of the two choices offered, Beltran is the better option. There is no room for Oswalt in the starting rotation.
If you create room in the rotation, the discusion has more merit, but you also have to ask whether or not Oswalt at this point in his career is a big enough improvement over Westbrook or Lohse to warrant signing him, particularly since you’ll have to eat salary in any trade. Either can be replaced by Miller come July or August, as well, instead of spending the money on Oswalt.
If there is a Crisp + upgrade second base option, I’ll consider that, but otherwise sign Beltran and move on.
Definitely better than Westbrook. Oswalt can be a #3, but Westy is a #5.
I agree he’s better than Westbrook. Here’s a hypothetical: Oswalt signs for $12 million (25% LESS than he made last year). You trade Westbrook, but are forced to eat $6 million in salary. Is Oswalt’s improvement over Westbrook worth $18 million? I think the answer is no.
I agree, not for that price. But I think we could get Oswalt on a 7-8 mil deal. And we may be able to find a team that will take on 1/2 of the 8 mil we’re giving Westy. At that rate I’d say yes.
But even if we had all that, Westy would likely use his NTC.
I’d like to see the Red Sox grab him. Can play all 3 OF spots. Re-unite!
Cardinals have a great outfield, we need a solid second baseman. And let Albert go, hes just going to be a money vacuum in a few years.