White Sox Interested in Coco Crisp

The White Sox are showing interest in center fielder Coco Crisp, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune confirms it, with quotes from Crisp's agent Steve Comte. At this point, the talks are preliminary. The Sox have been linked to Crisp in many rumors over the years.

It's been suggested Alex Rios will play center field for the 2010 Sox, though he could certainly remain in right field if they sign Crisp. Crisp, 30, hit .228/.336/.378 in 215 plate appearances for the Royals this year; his season ended in June and he eventually had surgery on both shoulders. The Royals chose a $500K buyout over Crisp's $8MM option for 2010.

about 2 years ago Boots 58 17 comments 1 recs |

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So bye bye to Crisp

Likely all he will do is leverage an offer from us into a contract from Chicago. Why play here if you don’t have to?

by AxDxMx on Nov 24, 2009 4:31 PM EST reply actions

we would hope that if interest from several teams

drives Crisp’s price up, then the Royals would say ‘thanks, but no thanks’ … then again, I can think of at least one current Royals GM who doesn’t mind overpaying for what he wants (especially when what he wants runs really fast) (and apparently when it strikes out a lot)

Blank

by benfunke on Nov 24, 2009 4:58 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah, if other teams want him, then the Royals shouldn't want him

The only way signing Crisp makes sense is if he can be had for a low base salary with playing time bonuses, which would protect his team from his very high injury risk. But if multiple teams want him, it is likely at least one will give him more guaranteed money than he’s worth to the Royals.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Nov 24, 2009 5:01 PM EST up reply actions

i think we most all understand what the Royals should do — it’s what GMDM will do that is the guessing game. so much fun. though, with our expectations so low, he doesn’t have to do very well for us to consider something a relative success.

Blank

by benfunke on Nov 24, 2009 5:04 PM EST up reply actions

I really doubt he'll seriously try to outbid other teams for Crisp

But we’ll see.

The immoderate moderator

by Scott McKinney on Nov 25, 2009 3:25 AM EST up reply actions

Who needs other teams interest

when you can just keep on fleecing Kenny Williams?

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Nov 24, 2009 6:13 PM EST up reply actions

I'm sure Jack Z. and Larry Beinfest have a very similar thought

only with a different direct object

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at FanGraphs.

Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 25, 2009 1:13 AM EST up reply actions

I would love to see Ankiel playing center

for us next year, but with that prick Boras as his agent, he will be far too expensive. I can just hear Boras now comparing him to Dimaggio.

Yes, I'm still alive. Sorry to disappoint you.

by royaldaddy on Nov 24, 2009 5:29 PM EST via mobile reply actions

Jeff Fiorentino Now! (No Kidding!)

Fiorentino is a minor league free agent centerfielder (formerly with the O’s). He hits left-handed, and next year will be his age 27 season.

CHONE projects him as exactly a league average hitter at 267/343/404 (+0 batting runs), slightly better than Crisp (261/342/386, -3 runs) and only slightly worse than Marlon Byrd (273/335/433, +3 runs). For comparison, Mitch Maier projects about 10 runs worse (261/325/369, -11 runs).

His defense in CF is a question mark, but even if he cannot play regularly there, he could fit as a fourth outfielder. BA liked his defense when he was coming up as a prospect. His MLB sample size (+1.7 UZR in 202 innings in CF) is essentially meaningless, but he struggled in limited duty last year.

Fiorentinto would be a nice pickup as he would likely sign a minor league deal (or for the major league minimum) and would not block the Royals if a better CF fell into their lap. if his defense is average, the Royals replace Crisp with someone that could provide roughly the same value but for free. Even if his defense in CF is below average, he is a viable stopgap or fourth outfielder.

Bonus consideration: his nickname is apparently Screech.

by Gopherballs on Nov 24, 2009 6:03 PM EST reply actions

My God, they could be brothers...

"Now…put that in your [BLEEP]ing pipe and smoke it." -Hal McRae

"I was doing this when BJ was in his father's nutsack." -Renzo Gracie

by Sweep_the_Leg on Nov 24, 2009 6:26 PM EST up reply actions

thanks

I’ve been waiting to post on Fiorentino at FanGraphs for about 2 weeks now, but stuff kept coming up. I was hoping to see what Dan Szymborski had for his projection.

Fiorentino: the Langerhans of 2010

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at FanGraphs.

Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 24, 2009 6:36 PM EST up reply actions