After trading reliever Leo Nunez for slugging first baseman Mike Jacobs, the Royals were looking for someone for Jacobs to drive in, a table-setter at the top of the order. That's just what they got today when they traded righthanded reliever to the Red Sox for center fielder Coco Crisp.
With Crisp and David DeJesus at the top of the order, and Jacobs, Jose Guillen and Alex Gordon in the middle, the Royals have accomplished a key winter goal of bringing lefty-righty balance to their lineup and building a batting order that can get guys on base for the boppers to bring home, especially if Billy Butler improves against righthanded pitching.
But there is a downside to improving the lineup. Royals GM Dayton Moore knows he's taking a gamble with his second trade of a reliever who was effective in 2008 for a position player, and during the Royals' conference call announcing the trade, I asked him about that.
"I think actually, to trade productive relievers is very, very risky, and what we had to do here with our team is evaluate what we have as far as our position players and what we need to do to make our team better," Moore said. "You and I have spoken before and after the '06 season, we worked hard to improve our starting pitching, and we've done that, and feel like in the deals we've made, we haven't compromised our starting pitching, and that's very important to us. We have compromised our relief corps. We will not be able to replace and Leo Nunez for what we were paying them and the type of production that they gave us. So I'm not going to sit here and run away from that -- we will not be able to replace them for what we were paying them and the type of production they gave us."
It's not often that you'll see a GM willingly admit to having "compromised our relief corps," but that's exactly why I would tend to believe in Moore's judgement here. He had to do something to improve his lineup, and dealt from a position of strength in the bullpen -- while the Royals won't be able to replace Ramirez and Nunez, relievers are notoriously unpredictable, and who's to say that Ramirez and Nunez would have given the Royals the production that they provided this year? Kansas City does have some internal options to feel good about in Robinson Tejeda and 24-year-old righthander Devon Lowery, and the buyer's market for relievers in free agency should benefit Moore as he does reshape his bullpen.
For now, the Royals have given up known for unknown in the bullpen, with the important exceptions of effective lefty setup man Ron Mahay and closer Joakim Soria
"That's the sacrifice we felt we had to make. If we didn't have a guy we felt was reliable, consistent, at times dominant closer -- it speaks to the confidence we have in Joakim. And we've got to make sure we maintain that strength and (give him save situations)," Moore said. "So we've got work to do and we'll look for ways to make it work."
Is Crisp worth the sacrifice? He had his struggles in Boston over the last three years, but seems to be the kind of player who might be helped by both a change of scenery and by no longer hearing his name constantly come up in trade rumors. Crisp was great in the ALCS this year, and should hit well at Kauffman Stadium, where he has six triples in 33 career games.
The other element of this trade is that with Crisp, DeJesus and Guillen, rumors of Mark Teahen's departure from Kansas City are sure to escalate. Talk already has swirled around the "Moneyball" star, with the Cubs and Indians reported to be interested at various times this offseason. If Moore can turn Teahen into some pitching, everything would seem to fall into place for the Royals to take the next step in their improvement.
As for the Red Sox, Jacoby Ellsbury has shown that he's ready to be an everyday player, and Crisp is too good to be a fourth outfielder. Boston may have been able to get more for Crisp had the Red Sox decided to trade him earlier, but adding Ramirez does address a key need in their relief corps. The gamble for the Red Sox is in lacking outfield depth, though Chris Carter hit 24 homers at Triple-A Pawtucket this year and had a solid 6-for-18 showing as a September callup. Also, Kevin Youkilis can play outfield in a pinch -- and may be asked to if Boston makes a big offer to Mark Teixeira. This is just the beginning of what might be a very busy and interesting offseason in New England.
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