There's a whole lot to like about Carl Crawford's game. He can hit, as his .302/.356/.485 line shows. He has stolen 38 bases (47 attempts) and his defense is tremendous. He has a higher UZR/150 than any qualified major leaguer, not that most fans or scouts need statistical confirmation that Crawford's play in left field is excellent. And Crawford, who turned 29 yesterday, will likely play in 140 or more games for the seventh time in eight seasons this year.
Critics might suggest that his speed is likely to fade, point to his relatively low walk rate and claim that he's having a career year, but nearly half the teams in baseball could have interest in the four-time All-Star when he hits free agency this winter despite any perceived question marks. So let's speculate on some potential suitors, with teams' 2011 payroll commitments in parentheses:
- Yankees ($141.6MM) – Hey, Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson are nice players, but are they enough to prevent the Yanks from pursuing Crawford? GM Brian Cashman, who pursued Cliff Lee, Dan Haren and Adam Dunn before the trade deadline, likes elite players and the Yankees can afford them.
- Red Sox ($94.1MM) – Here's another team that can afford big-time players. The Red Sox have Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Cameron and J.D. Drew under team control next year plus an option for David Ortiz. They can also call on Daniel Nava and Darnell McDonald or prospects like Josh Reddick and Ryan Kalish. Those players may stand between the Red Sox and Crawford, but let's not rule Boston out.
- Angels ($92.5MM) – Peter Gammons suggested last month that signing Crawford will be the Angels' top priority this winter. They figure to be strong bidders.
- Rays ($16.3MM) – The Rays are lowering payroll in 2011 and it will be difficult for them to pay Crawford market value unless they compromise the rest of their roster. Tampa Bay does not appear to be a serious contender to sign Crawford, but they could get creative and keep him.
- Blue Jays ($35.5MM) – The Blue Jays have outfielders Vernon Wells, Travis Snider and Jose Bautista, but they could move the latter to third base to make room for Crawford. Adam Lind could be playing first base in 2011, which would open up the DH spot. Crawford knows as well as anyone that the AL East is a tough place to win, so he's not likely to give the Jays any discounts.
- White Sox ($73.4MM) – Let's not rule the White Sox out, even though their entire outfield (Juan Pierre, Alex Rios and Carlos Quentin) is under team control in 2011.
- Tigers ($54.2MM) – The Tigers have lots of money coming off the books and Crawford could be a fit in spacious Comerica Park.
- Braves ($58.2MM) – The Braves have Nate McLouth, Melky Cabrera, Matt Diaz and Jason Heyward under team control, but they showed interest in outfielders at the trade deadline, so it wouldn't be surprising to see them pursue Crawford.
- Nationals ($22.4MM) – Josh Willingham has become a fixture in left field, but the Nats have pursued free agents aggressively, bidding on Mark Teixeira and signing Jason Marquis, Ivan Rodriguez and Matt Capps.
- Padres ($1.1MM) – Imagine Crawford and Tony Gwynn Jr. (second among all qualified major leaguers in UZR/150) patrolling Petco Park – I'm sure Padres GM Jed Hoyer has. Unlike some of the teams above, the Padres have committed a ridiculously low amount to their 2011 payroll, so they could surprise people and pursue Crawford.
- Giants ($74MM) – The Giants also showed interest in outfielders leading up to the trade deadline, so they might see Crawford as a potential long-term solution in left.
- Dodgers ($49.2MM) – Manny Ramirez's contract will be coming off the books, so the Dodgers could look to replace him with Crawford. That would give the Dodgers a star-powered outfield, but until their ownership situation becomes more stable, the team won't necessarily be able to make a nine-figure commitment to any free agent.
- Reds ($36.1MM) – The Reds are by no means the favorite to sign Crawford, but GM Walt Jocketty should have some payroll flexibility this winter.
Thanks for Cot's Baseball Contracts, Baseball-Reference and Dave Rutt of BattersBox.ca.
going with tigers. they have like…60million dollars coming off the books. their also my sleeper pick for cliff lee.
Could be. And I’ve been telling people all along, the Tigers are going to be the Mariners of this coming off-season. Making a ton of moves but i think the Tigers are and will be better than the Mariners. DD has always been gutsy with his moves and I could see him signing or trading for an OF, 2 RP, SP, SS, 3B, and C. I really think he’s going to go all out this off-season.
just eyeballing things…if crawford signs for 15mil/yrbeltre for 12mil/yrLee for 19mil/yrand a pitcher like ted lilly/jake westbrook for 7mil/yr…that could drastically improve the tigers. and they have the money coming off the books to do it.
No question about it they have a ton of money coming off the books.
what about this.
Crawford, 5yrs/$90MM.
Beltre 3yrs/$42mm
trade Brayan Villareal and Charles Furbush for Ricky Nolasco.
Sign Jorge De La Rosa 2yrs/$16MM
Sign Jesse Crain 2 yrs/$7MM
trade Andy Oliver and Daniel Fields for Kelly Johnson.
So that could be adding 60 Mil to next years payroll but subtracting more than that off of this years. plus you add in the arb eligibles.
Again, just eyeballing/speculating.
kelly johnson isn’t worth andy oliver alone, let alone with another prospect
Uhh. He’s pretty good. Id give up just Oliver even. But he’s really good.
take a look at the home/road splits. their pretty ugly.
In case you haven’t noticed, Detroit is not the city that players just flock to go to. Plus, the Yankees, Sox, and Mets still will probably offer more to guys like Beltre, De la Rosa, and Crawford. Yea it’s definitely possible to get one of that group plus other role players, but if you think that all these guys are going to flock to Detroit then your crazy. I’ve been to Detroit, aside from the sporting arena area, it is not looking too great over there.
remind me again why the yankees and mets would offer ANYTHING to beltre? i guess you’ve never heard of alex rodriguez or david wright?
and i believe the redsox already said they want beltre at “Their price” which means he could very well walk in free agency.
They should be willing to give Beltre what he wants, since he’s the answer at 3B for them, unless the guy they drafted this year really makes big time strides in a year.
A dream would be the following:
Crawford $17M (5yr/$85M)
Beltre $13M (3yr/$39M)
Lilly $8M (2yr/$16M)
+resign Bonderman at much less than he makes this year
+a catcher, whether Laird of another FA
The problem is Dombrowski has signed 1 FA to a multi-year deal (Valverde) as Tigers GM. Also, who knows how long Mike Illitch wants to sustain a $125M payroll. Yeah they have nearly $60M coming of the books, but they might reduce payroll to a more reasonable level.
Also, as much as I love Crawford and think he’d be a great fit for the Tigers, I just don’t think it’ll happen. We know the Yankees and Angels (and many others) covet him. If the Tigers offered 5yr/$85M, the Yankees could easily come in with a 6yr/$120M offer. What incentive does Crawford have to come to Detroit other than money, which the Yankees and Angels could/would top?
Hey bud Crawford will probably sign for more than 15 mil a year and your projection for Ted Lilly is prob a little off as well.
redsox totally, without a doubt they need crawford
I love the idea of him going to the Jays or Nats. I don’t think thats where he’s going. I thougt the Gigates were the favorite, but after what we saw Brian Sabean do with Holliday, Bay, Manny, and others over the years only to sign Aaron Rowand, Sabean won’t get him.
Now that the Rangers ownership is set, I think they could be a match. And of course the Yankees. Ken Rosenthal suggested the Astros, but no. The Reds would be a great fit and I would love that. Maybe. The Angels put CC’s all-star game locker next to Torii’s. Maybe.
I’m going to make a gutsy guess here. Padres.
Texas has their outfield under contract for quite some time; the last thing they need is an OFer. They want Hamilton at a corner spot so they’re not likely to trade Bourbon to put Hamilton back in center and sign Crawford.
They have a tremendous offense as is; If they had Cliff lee all year this year they would have an 11 game lead right now. They need to (and they know this) focus on spending any possible payroll flexibility that they have on starting pitching. They probably won’t get to keep Lee beyond this year as he will look for the highest bidder; but 100Million is not best spent by the Rangers on a leftfielder. As good as he might be.
Actually no. They had envsioned signing Carl Crawford and have a DH by commitee because of the amount of pressure Borbon, Andurs, and CC could put on the opposing pitcher from 9, 1, and 2. You’ll see them make a push.
Really?!?!? Vlad is a DH by comittee!?!?!? He has a mutual option for next season, and he loves it here.
Borbon has been pipped by David Murphy, by the way. Borbon isn’t even our CF of the future, he is a stop gap until Engel Beltre is ready. We will see him next year.
He isn’t a stop gap for Engel Beltre. I’m saying there is a chnce that if Vladimir goes, they have a DH by commitee
Borbon’s only asset is speed. He is not a good base stealer or base runner.
He has a low OB%, extremely weak arm, doesn’t get good jumps on fly balls, and Washington has red lighted him indefinately on the basepaths.
I have watched every MLB game the kid has played.
Engel Beltre is a five tool player, and our midseason #1 prospect. His power will continue develop as he gets stronger, and learns to pull the ball. He is just as fast as Borbon, has a better arm, and isn’t a singles hitter with a low OB%.
His minor league numbers at the same level, despite being 5 years younger, are better than Borbon in almost every category.
Beltre has a Carlos Beltran ceiling. Borbon has a Denard Span ceiling, but more than likely will be a Juan Pierre with less SB’s. His arm and instincts will not allow him to be a CF long term…he will move to LF.
So yes, he is a stop gap for Beltre.
Terrible on base, yes, but a good hitter, base stealer (not baserunner)
He makes outs on the basepaths, and has been picked off on 1B several times.
He is a good hitter if you think a .269 avg. and .350 slugging % are good.
Give it up.
sluging has nothing to do with what I’m talking about. Ichiro never has a high slugging. Yes he is a good hitter. Now if you will stop being so hard headed, back to Crawford, the Rangers will make a play.
Do not compare Borbon to Ichiro. In Julio’s wildest dreams he cannot see himself being Ichiro. This is getting rediculous.
Borbon has been pretty terrible (0.9 WAR in 317 PAs). Crawford is a superb defensive player – far better than Hamilton – and would play CF without question in Texas’ OF. Crawford is originally from Texas too, which doesn’t hurt the Rangers’ chances.
My Rangers will not be in play for Crawford. Just because we got new ownership doesn’t mean we will spend exorbinantly on FA and shift our approach from buliding from the ground up.
Hamilton will be a FA after next season, and that money will be needed to re-sign him.
Our off-season priorities will be either trying to re-sign Cliff Lee (which I am 95% sure won’t happen), or adding an Ace to replace him through a trade.
If Lee bounces, JD will go heavy at Greinke. He has the prospects to make it happen.
I’m guessing you don’t read articles or listen to ownership Interviews.
The last thing we can afford is to get into bidding wars on FA, which is why we won’t re-sign Lee. We are built on our scouting department and development.
JD will be more than happy to stick to what has gotten him this far. He will add key pieces here and there through trades, where we virtually monopolize the market in prospects.
Getting into bidding wars ensures that you will have to throw in extra years, and pay players more than they worth, once they are past their prime. Unless you have a rediculous market and budget, it is unsustainable. We have neither.
There has been ONE article and ONE writer that has speculated Crawford to the Rangers. Don’t come weak like that son.
And what makes you think that there is a 0 chance they sign him?
It is funny that you believe everything that you read on MLBtraderumors. 98% of rumors are false.
If the story had any legs, more than ONE writer would have been on the case.
It was an overzealous sportswriter making a SPECULATION based on the fact that Crawford was born in Texas. No credible source has ran with that.
You don’t know how much I believe. Come on man. You know that I’m not as stupid as today and yesterday gave suggested. Come on. There is so much more of a chance than you are saying.
If MLB trade rumors doesn’t even list Texas as a possible destination for Crawford, and they ran the link to the original speculative article (only because they do that for everything on the web, it is what they do) what does that tell you?
It tells me that you are desperate to keep hearing from me. I think their would he plenty of other suitors that they didn’t mention, not to say they did a bad job or anything though.
Would I like to have CC in a Texas uni….absolutely. But, we cannot afford him.
Would you like to drive a Ferrari? My guess would be yes. Can you afford it? My guess would be no.
I don’t want to drive a Ferrari and I don’t have my drivers lisence either. The only thing I can afford right now is to go see Buster olney, which is where I am going now. Ferrariman wants a Ferrari, but that’s a different story. If they can afford cliff lee and he goes elsewhere and if CC is still on the market, they make an offer.
No, If we don’t get Cliff we will try and trade for Grienke and use that money on signing him to an extension.
We will save the money on Crawford and try to sign Hamilton to an extension, as he is a FA after this season.
If you don’t have a drivers liscence I am assuming you are young. Since you are young I’m going to teach a quick lesson, money doesn’t grow on trees and you have to spend it wisely.
Take it easy and give Buster my regards.
PS: the last thing you ever want to do is argue about the Rangers with me, if you expect to win. If you are arguing to become educated on the Rangers, I commend you.
Okay fine. Hat tip.
Hamilton isn’t a FA unitl 2013.
JD said yesterday on the radio, that he is a FA in 2012.
Time for some fact checking.
Not saying you need to check your facts. I’m going to look into it.
According to Cot’s he’s in Arb 3 in 2012…so AFTER 2012, or BEFORE 2013…he is a FA
Oh, okay, then I take that back.
Yeah man. That was one of those cases where it sounded bad after I saw it. It was not intended that way.
Thanks for the fact checking.
No prob, and by the way…Us Phillies fans are pulling for your Rangers to make it to the WS. We all love and respect Cliff Lee and wish you guys the best, that is of course if the Phillies play the Rangers, haha.
Nice, we are just pulling to finally win a playoff series….lol.
*I meant next season in regards to Hamilton…not this season. Typo.
I have stated in all my other posts that this is the case. I didn’t proofread.
Coincidentally, including MLBtraderumors.
Also, everything I have stated leads me to believe WE CANNOT AFFORD HIM.
We are not a big market club, and thinking that way is what got us into BANKRUPTCY!
Of course JD is going to say that he will try to sign Cliff. He has to to appease the fans.
The reality of the matter is that the bidding will start at 6140 and end at 7-8180-200. WE CAN”T AFFORD THAT. We have tried it once with A-Rod, and that is the main reason Hicks no longer owns the team.
He will take the two first round compensation picks, try to replace Smoak and Beavan with those, and make a play for an Ace that he will not have to get into a bidding war for. His currency in bidding wars will be prospects not $$$. Where he has the edge.
We are not going to pay Cliff Lee a third of what we just paid for the entire franchise.
Any other what you think are snappy, ill advised comments?
I would love to have Crawford on the Jays but the fact there would be so many teams interested when he hits the open market would require a severe massive overpayment and I’m not sure if I want another Wells-type contract.
Angels and Detroit are probably the best fit for Crawford.
How many times have you seen Anthopolous come up short on getting the player he wants? I can only recall once – Chapman – and even then he reportedly had the second-best offer on the table.
I think that if he likes the idea of Crawford on the Jays, he’s going to push for the signing. AA’s pretty tight-lipped so obviously you won’t hear much in the way of interest right now.
I have a different opinion….it is well worth over paying for a player like Crawford….He is a top of the order batter and a game changer….imagine having a batting order of Crawford, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Snider, Arencibia, and Hechavarria (or Encarnarcion)
Would love the Giants to get him but I’m sure he’ll sign with the Yankees and be paid ridiculously and use the quote, “It’s not about the money”
Didn’t the Sox already DFA Hermida on 7/31?
Yup
Good call. Thanks.
Inspite of Gardner being brilliant, I see the Yankees taking him. Trading Gardner in the offseason after his career year would be the move they’ll make. In this way they can get decent prospects and after that get Crawford.
The underlying numbers show that pretty much all of Gardner’s production this year is sustainable and, more importantly, he’s extremely cheap. If there were to make a move for a Crawford (or Werth – who would be a better fit because they need a righty bat more than a lefty), Granderson would be the player to go.
Co-sign.
Don’t care for the Yanks, but Gardner is legit.
Not sure how you come to that conclusion(re: Gardner), but a left handed outfielder who’d going to hit 10 HRs playing in Yankee stadium is fairly plain-jane. He’s a nice compliment to the Yankees high priced talent, but on a normal team he would be average.
Gardner ranks 36th among hitters in all of baseball in WAR (ahead of Jayson Werth, Prince Fielder, Ichiro, Torii Hunter and Carlos Gonzalez just to name a few) and makes, basically, the league minimum. He is 13th in WAR among OFs. He is under team control through the 2014 season and has a skill set not properly valued by arbitrators which will keep his annual salaries low. His contact rate, walk rate, BABIP and slightly increased LD% all indicate that his season has been legitimate and not an aberration.
Frankly, I would be shocked if Gardner EVER hits 10 non-inside-the-park home runs in a season in his entire career – but his value comes from his ability to get on base nearly 40% of the time, to steal bases at an extremely high success rate and to play fantastic defense.
Don’t forget scoring runs…he is pretty good at that as well.
Much like RBIs that’s not really a skill he controls though, it’s a function of his place in a superb lineup, his OBP and the fact that he is an above average (and fast) base runner.
He does control his OBP and and the fact that he is an above average (and fast) base runner.
This leads to more runs than most players, regardless of who is knocking him in.
Understood – my feeling is that Gardner is the type of player that does well in a stacked lineup, which is why he’s probably more valuable in a Yankees linup versus say the Cleveland Indians, Royals, Giants, etc
But Michael Kay gave him the Ichiro narrative that he could hit more HRs if he wanted to!
Also to make a simple, non-WAR based argument, I think fans who care and don’t care for advanced stats can agree that Ichiro Suzuki is a fantastic baseball player. Gardner is, basically, imitating the skill set Suzuki has shown for the last decade. Obviously, Gardner has a hell of a long way to go to even be in the conversation with a surefire hall of famer like Ichiro – but he brings an incredibly similar style of play and allocation of value to the table and is out-Ichiroing Ichiro this year.
i hope they do pick up Crawford…i think they should trade Granderson in a package with Eduardo Nunez and Iva Nova for Hanely Ramirez…so that the Yanks can start adjusting for the future…Jeter could be brought back as a super utility/dh…
Um…..always glad to talk to a fellow Yankee fan…. but even suggesting that trade makes all Yankee fans look stupider. I think there’s a decent chance the Marlins would (understandably) turn down an offer of Montero, Hughes and Granderson for Ramirez. Hanley is one of the most valuable players in all of baseball as he is signed to a below market deal through 2014 and Florida is soon to open a new ballpark in downtown Miami where Hanley is seen as the centerpiece of that team.
Also, Jeter isn’t coming back as a ‘super utility/dh’
Yanks will get second tier prospects for Gardner. He’s had one good year but has not proved himself as anything more than a marginal talent. However, that would not stop the Yankees from trading him and signing Crawford. Or maybe they trade Swisher and have Crawford/Granderson/Gardner? Hard to believe that one year after 500M for Burnett/Sabathia/Texiera they’ll spend another several hundred million on Crawford/Cliff Lee.
Yanks will not trade Gardner for 2nd tier prospects (or at all, barring an astounding offer). If they move an OF it will be Granderson.
Agreed – Granderson has a higher ceiling.
I believe most players peak is roughly at their age 27 season (Granderson is at his age 29 season now). He has gotten to the point where he has, basically, proven himself as incapable of hitting lefties with any sort of consistentency. While he has significantly more power than Gardner, he’s an inferior defensive player, base runner and is worse at what I feel is the most important skill a player can bring to the table – not making outs. I say without any hesitation that for next year, or the rest of their careers, I’d rather have Gardner than Granderson, which is kind of sad because Granderson’s 2007 season was one of the coolest in recent years (23 homers, 23 triples, 26 SBs).
Considering how 500 million dollars was not spent all in one offseason, you should un-find it hard to believe.
You’re smarter than that. The average person understands that a person’s contract is not paid up-front.
No – but having 700M committed to 5 players is why baseball’s financial house is broken.
I was going to make some long winded response here but instead I’ll make two small points.1. Baseball revenues are at an all time high.2. Baseball parity is at an all time high as well. 8 different champions in the last decade.
This is usually an argument made by a Yankee fan. As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s all about getting to the playoffs. Once in the playoffs any team can ride hot pitching over a short series and do some damage. However, teams that are out spent end up losing their young talent and can not compete for the playoffs every year. Look at the Indians(close to the WS in 2007), the Marlins(won WS but then blew up their team), the Blue Jays, and TB is looking at losing several of their best players. These lower spending teams have to trade away their young players because they know they will not be able to outspend the Yankees, Red Sox, etc. So you get fans in these cities who don’t support their teams. I don’t blame the Rays fans for not coming out when they know in 2 or 3 years they’ll be in the basement again. So what you have is a handfull(8-10) of franchises that have the money to spend. And a bunch of teams that are 2nd tier revenue teams that may make the playoffs once every 7 or 8 years.
If baseball wants to continue down this road, they should just contract the 10 teams with the lowest revenues and get on with it(Pirates, KC, TB, Clev, Flor, SD, Mil, Hou, Wash, ARZ, COL, etc) .
Believe me I know how you feel. Having a team that flat out refuses to spend $$$$. Not that that always works (but on the off chance it does), why not? You can still have a deep/competitive farm system & have a good M.L. club at the same time. Teams like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Florida, Minnesota, Arizona, Washington, Seattle, etc. If there’s no limit to how much you can spend, why not. Quite being pansies & start forkin’ out some serious coin. All fans wanna see their teams keep their core players. T.B. should be able to sign Soriano, Pena, & Crawford but that won’t happen because their solely committed to building the best farm system in all of baseball. Not to mention they desperately need a new open air stadium (without a roof). But will they get one, probably not.
Well – in a perfect world Tampa would keep all their core players, but the thing that drives economics in the baseball world is local TV revenue. NY metro has a local population of 20M people, Tampa/St Pete is around 2M people. The NYY total revenue/year is almost 400M whereas the Tampa Rays revenue is about 150M. Subtract from that operating costs(travel, stadium payments, personnel, etc) and you probably have something in the order of 100M for Tampa to spend on players where the Yankees could spend at least double and still be making money. Thus – the Yanks go after anyone they want and the Rays need to make tough decisions, hope their farm system works out and they don’t have any injuries. I love the NFL model that rewards teams for good drafts, good trades and well run organizations, vs the MLB where it’s a caste system that rewards the robber baron Yankees.
Time for 8 different teams to win
10 years NFL
9 years NHL and MLB
30 years NBA
Would a salary cap really create more competition?
if cashman doesn’t like what he got out of granderson, would not be shocking to see him moved… then to move gardner into CF full time and crawford in left.
but i think that’s short-sighted and less likely to happen unless granderson really falls flat.
Ellsbury, or Crawford.. hmmmmmmmmmmmm slam dunk! Crawford!
Both. Having those two on the basepaths would drive opposing pitchers insane. The distraction would provide lots better pitches for other batters to hit.
I dont know how much long term money you want to put on a guy who is turning 30 whose main asset is his speed. Legs get old quickly in many cases.
Even if/when his speed regresses, his floor his a 100/15/75/25/.300 player. Defense wouldn’t be as good if he lost speed, but he would still be above average. Still very valuable.
Im not saying he will be worthless, just that I think he will be seeing a lot of 3-5 year offers and not many 5-7 year offers. If his legs go he becomes pretty average. His defense will take a hit and his average/obp will take a hit.
This isn’t that hard to figure out. Crawford will be high end free agent meaning only a few teams will be able to afford him and still be competititve (Yanks, Red Sox, Cubs, LA’s, Phils). Some of those already have significant payroll comitted at his position and/or just don’t have the need for him. That leaves the Angels or Cubs if the Cubs can move Fukodome or Soriano. Crawford would be a great fit for the Cubs especially if they can revive Lee and Aramis, and Colvin and Castro come into their own. Crawford is a good chemistry/clubhouse guy and is good with young players. None of this matters if the don’t find a way to dump Zambrano.
The Sox will go hard after Crawford – it will be the Sox, Yankees or Angels. I don’t see him going to Detroit.
It all depends on who wants him more, and if the BoSox don’t mind paying the luxury tax.
The Sox have a lot of money coming off the books next year. I think they’re only committed to something like 100M. Now they have some tough decisions to make but they have the money if they want to pursue Crawford.
I think this is going to be a fantastic bidding war. I truly believe it’s going to be a team like the Braves, Angels, or Padres.
It’ll be between the Braves and Yankees. However, the Yankees will have to bid on Lee and, possibly, Werth and deal with Jeter. I think they’ll put Crawford on the back burner for a while and the Braves will sign him for something like 4 years / 64 million$
My bet is the Red Sox are out on Crawford. Drew is solidly lodged in right and Ellsbury, Cameron, and probably Kalish will fill out the rest. My bet is on the yanks or Giants.
Drew is in his walk year in 2011. The Sox would gladly sign Crawford and trade Cameron. Cameron would fit nicely in LF, Ellsbury in CF and Drew in right, with Kalish as the OF in training for 2012.
Didn’t Cameron sign a one year deal? I think he’s a FA after this year.
He signed a 2 year deal.
It’s always a good thing to have to many players to work with. They could sign Crawford and try to trade any of Ellsbury, Cameron, or Drew. Obviously the most likely one to go would be Ells because I don’t think many teams would want Drew or Cameron with how much they make unless the Sox take on their entire salary. Don’t be surprised if the Sox sign both Cliff Lee and Carl Crawford, I know it’s a dream but I wouldn’t be surprised. They just can’t let the Yankees sign one or the other or both. They need to pull a “Yankees” and swoop in and offer the extra money or years.
I would be highly surprised it the Sox go after Lee.
Sox won’t go after Lee. They already have 6 potential starters and that’s not taking into account Tazawa’s return or Doubront. If they spend money this offseason it’ll be for hitting or the pen.
I know how it sounds but they could find a way to put Lee on the team. They could trade Matsuzaka if he would waive his no trade clause or even put him in the bullpen. Tazawa may never be the same after his TJ surgery and the other prospects can pitch in the bullpen or be traded not to mention he didn’t pitch that well for the Sox when he played for them. Wakefield can pitch in the bullpen or be released. What I’m getting at is that it wouldn’t surprise me at all for the Sox to go after Lee as to where the Yankees want him, the Sox can’t afford to let the Yankees have him, and besides you can never have to much pitching. They will add bullpen and hitting most likely but imagine a rotation of Lee, Beckett, Lester, Lackey, and Buchholz. Who could beat them?
Personally – I don’t see them pursuing Lee, unless they trade Beckett or Matsuzaka. An interesting senario could have them trading Beckett and a few prospects to SD for A-Gon, and moving Youk to 3rd. If they signed Crawford, and re-sign Martinez they’d have a pretty strong lineup:
Crawford
Pedroia
Youk
A-Gon
Martinez
Ortiz(or another DH)
Drew
Scutaro
Ellsbury
Yankees will get him and Lee… Don’t be shocked when it happens… We all know it’s coming for better or worse…
obvious yankke fan
Red sox will go hard for Crawford; they know what he can do, some of his best games have come against the Sox.
They are fed up with Ellsbury and will trade him for a corner infielder if they cant resign Beltre for “their price”.
They are fed up with Ells, but I doubt they trade him now.
Are they really fed up with Ellsbury, or is this just the crap that WEEI and Sports Hub are peddling to pump up their ratings? After all, Theo refused to listen to offers for him at the trading deadline.
Yeah but it was at his lowest value. Ells was once mentioned as a centerpiece for the Santana trade. Right now he’s worth far less…
I think he meant the off season. Which the very well may trade him then.
I figured, but I’m still not convinced they trade Ells during the offseason.
I say the Angels and the White Sox are the front runners for his services. They are both big market teams and he would be THE perfect addition to both clubs.
Kenny Williams has shifted his priorities from the long ball of the 2005 World Champs to a speed and defense approach. His FA signings, trades, and draft picks show this. He is the ideal player for them.
As for the Angels. Moreno, Scoscia, and Reagins can’t be happy with the way my Rangers are looking.
Adding him along with getting Morales healthy for next year will make our division extremely competitive. Torri Hunter has already started to recruit him.
They added Callaspo to replace Figgins, a very smart move. They are both dimutive, switch hitting 3B. Figgins has more speed and Callaspo has more pop. And they added Dan Haren to give them an elite 1-2 punch.
There will be a pennant race in the AL west next year if they add Crawford.
I don’t think Crawford will sign with the Yankees and Red Sox, and do that to the Rays. Maybe that it isn’t the case, but it is a thought. The Rays have treated him extremely well over the years.
I don’t see the White Sox going after Crawford. I agree with your assessment about him being the ideal type of player that they want (Ozzie more than Kenny, actually), but his price is going to be ridiculous. The Sox have really only gone out and paid top dollar for a free agent once…Albert Belle. That didn’t go too great.
It would be nice to think that Crawford would “not want to do that to the Rays”, but no chance. These guys simply don’t care at all anymore. It is, and always will be, all about the money.
That is definately true. He may be out of their price range. The most they have ever spent on a player is $65 mil for Frank Thomas. Just looked that up.
But, if they see him as THE piece to get them over the hump and to another WS, I think Reisndorf could be persuaded. Reinsdorf is an exceptional owner.
With their pitching and roster in general, he may be that piece. Kenny has done a great job with that club.
I’d tell Ozzie if I get you this piece, no more controversial comments. Ozzie is one of the best Managers in the game, and one of the smartest baseball men on the planet. With that being said, he undermines himself reguarly with is outspoken nature.
I don’t think Ozzie is capable of keeping his mouth shut. It’s a shame that baseball smarts do not carry over to common sense/general smarts, or else he could have answered himself as to why hispanic players don’t get translators.
Yup. There are enough Hispanic players that speak fluent English and are more than capable of translating for a team mate.
Japanese players don’t have that luxury.
The Angels specifically put Torri Hunter’s locker right next to Carl Crawford during the All Star game in Anaheim this year and that was to lure C.C. to Anaheim. The Angels desperately need a LF with speed and a player at the top of the order. Carl Crawford would be a perfect fit. A big contract and a house on the beach is ideal for Crawford. Get it done Halos!
Considering Texas now has an owner and Crawford is from Texas originally, the Rangers should be on this list. Crawford would make a superb upgrade over Borbon for that team…
Oakland. Aside from normal raises, arb cases and options on Ellis and Crisp, they have about $11.5M committed next season.
Whoever gets him…for Gods sake make him wear a cup!!!
Hahaha, well played.
“I’ll second that” – Adrian Beltre
Don’t forget Seattle. The M’s could jump into the FA market at any time for the right players. Crawford’s left handed power would play nicely in Safeco.
The Braves could pull it off if the ownership decides they want to spend money. If Chipper and Wagner do both retire as they have either said or hinted that should cover his salary without even adding. They could then fill bullpen role with Venters or Kimbrel. The Braves could be real players in offseason this year.
In my dream scenario this is the 2011 Atlanta Braves
C-Mccann
1b-Freeman
2b-Prado
3b-Beltre
Ss-Gonzalez
Lf-Crawford
Cf-Ankiel
Rf-Heyward
Sp1-Hudson
Sp2-Jurjjens
Sp3-Hanson
Sp4-Minor
Sp5-Lowe
Bullpen: Venters,Kimbrel,Moylan,Dunn,O’Flaherty plus 1 or 2 more
Bench-Infante,Hinske,Conrad,Ross,Diaz,Melky
Why aren’t the Phillies on this list? Ohhh right, because we get Raul Ibanez’s age 39 season instead…thanks Ruben!
Crawl Crawford is going to be the 2011 version of Vlad Guerrero in terms of being the player that the Giants are convinced they can’t afford and will regret not signing for the next decade.
I would also put the A’s into the mix. They’ve got 11MM committed to their 2011 payroll (not including arb cases and options), and the most obvious upgrade for them is someone like Crawford, since there isn’t an awesome FA 3B on the market.
They traded for Holliday, and were in on Furcal, Beltre, Scutaro, etc, who were the best free agents in their class, when they desperately needed infield help. Their young pitching is ready to carry them, all they need is some big bat help.
The Holliday trade didn’t exactly turn out great for the A’s considering they had to trade Carlos Gonzalez & Huston Street to get him
I know it turned out badly. It’s more the “they’re willing to go after big-time players” mindset I’m talking about. And that they’re an improved team, with really, really good young pitching and that lets them make a move for a stud outfielder.
It’s going to be a bona-fide 3 way race in the AL West next year.
I like Oakland as a team… their starting staff is probably the most overlooked in baseball, possibly even the best. And I agree they really only need 2 good hitters to turn the team into a powerhouse. But I just don’t see Beane giving out the big contracts.
I don’t think they’re the favorites to land him, but I do think they make a serious bid.
I think he lands with the Angels, FWIW.
I am pretty sure ownership said publicly that they will pursue a big time FA OFer next year & Crawford is the biggest name there is. I also see Brandon Webb landing in either Oakland or SD to build value. Id swap out Cust for Manny Ramirez too if I were the A’s. I think Manny’s got 1-2 great DH seasons left in the tank.
I’m just saying that Crawford could very easily net a Matt Holliday type contract, and I really think the A’s shouldn’t do that. They’re a decent bet to make a strong bid though.
I wouldn’t replace Cust. Manny will probably cost at least double, even triple what Cust costs and the improvement at this stage isn’t going to be huge when you adjust for park/league. I don’t think the A’s should spend 10 million on a DH. That’s what its going to cost to get Manny.
Brandon Webb might not be a bad idea. I love Anderson, Cahill, Gonzalez and Braden. But I’m not sold yet on Mazzaro, even though he’d be the 5th starter. Webb would likely come cheap, too. Maybe a deal similar to Duchscherer’s 2010 contract ($1.75 million plus incentives that could have put him up around the $5 million mark, if he had lasted).
Speaking of Duchscherer; I REALLY hope they re-sign him. They might even be able to get him on a minor league deal (or at least a splt contract). Now that both hips are repaired, I have no doubt that he has something left to offer, even if it’s just as a long reliever/spot starter.
Someone else I’d like to see them sign to a minor league deal is Dontrelle Willis. There’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal,in my opinion. And if there’s anywhere he can turn his career around, it’s in the A’s system. He’s worth a flier.
Not so sure Manny’s a good idea, though. I seriously doubt they’ll be able to afford more than one big bat. And Manny would be really far from the top of that wish list.
With Barton playing so well at 1B, and Carter looking like a less than desirable outfielder, I kind of want to see them make him the DH, while occasionally playing 1B, LF and RF. It’s rare for a rookie to start his career that way. But as of right now, he’s a man without a position. And they may not have much choice if they want him to be on the roster for next year, and getting regular at-bats.
phillies…werth wont resign because he thinks he is worth more than anyone on the market..ibanez heats up has a good 2nd half to establish a market value for an al team to dh..phillies shed moyers salary and half or less of raul to pay for carl… victorin crawford and brown would be a nice outfield with francisco and mayberry backing up..
lol @ you thinking their is a market for ibanez 🙂
I’m a Phillies fan… and I agree with Ferrariman. LOL @ you thinking there is a market for Ibanez. Lol
If there was any market for Ibanez, it would be more of a bad contract – bad contract swap. The Phillies won’t get crap for him otherwise.
The salary numbers are misleading (not blaming the editor as it was pulled from Cots).
The Padres have Gonzalez’s contract to pickup. There are 7 arb eligible players. Finally, they have 5 FA’s that will need to be replaced.
The Pads do have very little money committed but it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest with options being picked up and regular arb cases that they could be at $30m without Crawford. Getting Crawford could push them to $50m or so. That would be a pretty big jump from their current $37m payroll.
For what it’s worth though I do think he would be a great SD guy. Crawford in Petco would be awesome. 20+ triples and a ton of runs prevented. I question though whether it is a good move for the franchise. You could use a chunk of the money that you are paying Crawford to retain Gonzalez. Would Pads fans rather have Crawford or A-Gon?
My money though is on the Tigers. They have the cash and the biggest need.
The Rays have a slim chance at resigning him but they’d have to do a few things to make it work. I feel like they’d have to trade Garza or Shields which may not be a terrible idea. Dump BJ Upton who’s nothing more than a perennial disappointment and let Pena walk, 1B is the easiest position to fill. Branyan or Berkman could do his job cheaper. It will just be tough for a team who refuses to expand their market to pay an outfielder 15M+ for many seasons when he will be getting offers from basically everyone.
Really wish that the Cubs had room for him. Definitely the leadoff hitter they need. As much as I hate the idea of moving Colvin to 1st Id welcome it to put Crawford in CF, which would move Byrd to RF. My mom always told me, “Wish in one hand and crap in the other, see which one fills up 1st.”
Crawford’s not a lead-off hitter. He’s fast, but he’s not a lead-off hitter.
Like scatterbrian and melonis_rex, I wouldn’t underestimate Oakland. Its payroll of $51M for 2010 will be reduced by nearly half when Sheets ($10M) and Chavez ($12.5M) are off the books. A’s already have shown they’ll be aggressive with free agents (missing out on Scutaro, Beltre, J. Carroll, among others) and Crawford fits Beane’s recent lust list: Great speed, great defense — two “market inequities” that Beane & Co. have been trying to take advantage of the past 2 years in free agency, trades, draft. A’s may not get Crawford, but you can bet they’ll drive up the price.
One thing about the A’s: they have been reluctant to offer big long-term deals to free agents. Why should we expect this to change?
They offered Furcal 4 years, Beltre 3 years and Scutaro 3 years. You are wrong.
The A’s franchise is at a critical point with fan dissention, stadium questions, etc. and they’ve got financial flexibility to fix things. Also, Beane and Forst have already hinted that they’ll be players in the free-agent market. They both realize the team desperately needs an impact offensive player (or 2) to help what should be one of the majors’ top rotations over the next 2-3 years.
They were willing to go 3 years with Beltre & Scutaro when no one else would and still didn’t get them. Maybe they offer a backloaded 4- or 5-year deal to Crawford with the realization that Beane can always flip him after a couple of years? Remember, for the past 7-8 seasons they’ve always had at least one player making at least $10M (Chavez, Kendall, Sheets), so they’ll have financial flexibility with $22.5M coming off the books — also, they’ve been getting $30M per year via revenue sharing the past couple of seasons.
Just saying that Beane knows his offense needs a jolt and he’s indicated he’s not interested in another Holliday-type of trade (heck, who in green & gold would be?!) because he wants to hang onto his prospects. And he’s finally got some real cash to really pursue a free agent such as Crawford or Dunn.
Eh, my thing about Oakland is their big money offers lately have mostly been for short term players (1-2 years). And while yes, they have little committed for next year, my bet is Beane won’t do much more than kick the tires on big names.
With such clear needs in terms of offense, and offering big deals to players who chose to sign for less/shorter terms, what makes you think Beane wouldnt do much more than kick the tires? He also just missed on Aroldis Chapman too, the A’s were listed as Chapmans runner up team.
I believe they were 3rd, the Blue Jays were second. They were probably very close behind though.
I like the fact that the Padres are even mentioned here, if they could sign him and A-gone they could really bring in some serious revenue and it would be a statement to the SD fans that we are serious now about winning.With all the money that the Padres are going to be racking in with their 1st place club this year and possible playoff revenue they can afford it…they just need to spend what they make for once.
My bet is the Red Sox are out on Crawford. Drew is solidly lodged in right and Ellsbury, Cameron, and probably Kalish will fill out the rest. My bet is on the yanks or Giants.
—————–
Drew is headed to his mid 30’s and Cameron is already in his mid to late 30’s with 1 year to go. Ellsbury has been somewhat injury prone and Kalish and Reddick haven’t distinguished themselves. Are any of those guys going to keep the Sox from going after Crawford? If you look at the Sox carefully they are getting just as old as the Yankees. As far as players near or entering their prime, the Sox have Ellsbury, Pedroia and Youks to build around for the future. Ortiz, Lowell, Drew, Beltre, Martinez, Cameron and Scutaro are all either in their mid 30’s or in the last year or two of their current deals. Can the Sox really pass on adding a talent like Crawford at age 29?
Been awhile.
The Sox have a lot of potentially decent outfielders and to be honest it’s more of I don’t see them seeing the outfield as a priority. I think Drew, Cameron, and Ells will be scheduled as the starting outfield with Kalish getting regular time in AAA waiting for the first injury (and despite Reddick’s slow start his bat has picked up again and I do believe he could be a decent hitter in the majors). I see them going the cheaper route with the outfield.
My bet is their big offseason plans will be resign Beltre (Unless Gonzalez is miraculously available), resign Varitek to platoon him with Salty, and decide on VMart, Ortiz, or Dunn as future DH (VMart’s flexibility makes the most sense).
Yeah, what a disappointment Kalish is. He started the year in AA and hit .293, moved up to AAA and hit .294, and now that he’s with the Sox he beat out Ted Williams for hottest start ever and is hitting .471 (small sample size, obviously). Oh, and he has a strong accurate arm. Yup, he sucks.
Oh, did I forget to mention the 25 stolen bases so far this year?
I think it would be interesting to see him in a place like Washington
I have to admit I’m quietly hoping the Nats have a big offseason. They’ve been on the bottom for so long and they have great potential. A few good signings could put them over the edge.
I’d love to see the A’s make a run at him. They desperately need an impact bat, and Crawford will be the best offensive player on the market, in my opinion. He doesn’t have a whole lot of power. But he’d a perfect fit, given the A’s emphasis on speed, defense, and aggressive base-running.
It’s definitely a long shot. But the $10 million they’ll be shedding with Sheets coming off the books should take care of all the players due arbitration raises. And with Chavez finally coming off the books, that’s another $12M they’ll have to work with (assuming payroll stays around $60-62M). So they could probably afford him, unless he’s looking for more than $15M per year.
I think Crisp CF, Barton 1B, Crawford LF, Carter DH, Sweeney RF, Suzuki C, Kouzmanoff 3B, Ellis 2B, Pennington SS would be a pretty nice lineup. And their great pitching staff is young, and likely to improve even more. Plus they’ll all be pretty cheap for the next few years. So I think a guy like Crawford could be just what they need to put them in contention for the next few years.
It would make Michael Taylor the odd man out, for now. But with the way injuries unfortunately tend to pile up in Oakland, he probably wouldn’t have to spend many more months in AAA before getting the call. Sweeney has chronic knee problems, and with his recent knee surgery (and a second one possibly on the horizon), I’m not sure he’s a lock for the Opening Day roster. And Davis has had frequent hamstring issues. And Crisp is as injury-prone as they come.
I put Carter in RF and Cust at DH, with Sweeney and Rajai sharing the CF duties. Unless Crawford agrees to move to RF, which is best case scenario since Carter can play left.You got a really good bat for ~3MM in the American League, you don’t pass that up. Cust is still a really good hitter when Bob Geren and Jim Skaalen aren’t screwing with his approach.
Save for about 50 games in CF (which were pretty much all from ’03-’05, Crawford has been a career LF. I’m not too sure I’d want to mess with that, if we were to miraculously land him.
If they do intend to leave Carter in the OF for a while, though – he’s actually had more experience in RF than in LF, up to this point. So that might be the way to go, instead.
This may be all moot, though. Cause I’ve got a pretty good feeling that Cust will be non-tendered again. And this time not re-signed. They might even try to sell high on him, and trade him late this month (if he clears waivers). I’m not a Cust hater like most A’s fans seem to be. I’ve always thought he was a good DH, especially vs. righties. But at the same time, I do think his .292 BA is an anomaly. And I wouldn’t be very surprised if his OPS drops about 50 points between now and the end of the season (Though I truly do hope I’m wrong on that).
If Carter does work out in the outfield, though. And they get their hands on Crawford (or perhaps Jayson Werth), where would that leave Michael Taylor? It wouldn’t hurt my feelings to see him traded. But we’d need a pretty good return on a guy like that. And I can’t think of too many areas that we need depth at, in the majors OR minors, right now.
I’m not sure if anyone has the answer to this, but does anyone know why Carl Crawford will be playing left field and not center? I know in Tampa they have Upton and probably like him in center, but I wonder if other teams would like to play him in center?
Maybe he grades out better at left field, but I still feel like with his speed and good overall defensive skills that he’d play center very well and while his offensive numbers are great anywhere, they’d be even better in center field.
The Braves aren’t gonna sign Crawford – ownership is showing less financial commitment each year, not too mention we’ve got too many weak-hitting lefties already.
I love how many posts there are about the A’s in here. Ben really missed an obvious one there. I mean sure, the Yanks can always blow anyone out of the water, but if Swisher becomes available again, Im sure the A’s would like a shot at him too in a trade 🙂
Salty and Varitek, unbelievable. First move sign V-Mart. Should have been done by now.
Vmart isn’t a long term catcher. Salty and Tek could be acceptable. We have a few decent potentials in the minors… I’m excited to see what Ibarra can do in the minors.
varitek is almost as bad defensively as v-mart. and miles behind with the bat.
As nice at it sounds for the Reds to be mentioned … a lot of that payroll flexibility will be tied up in the Votto extension, raise for Phillips (goes up to $11M next season) … not to mention the guys coming up on their arb years (Cueto, Bruce,Volquez). We can always go after guys like Crawford I guess … but with their payroll … you pretty much sign one guy for what you could to keep two or three of your arb players long term.
dodgers?NO there gonna aim low.maybe resign podsednik or claim hermida from boston? but tiger fans how bout russell martin nd casey blake 4 alex avila,casey crosby,nd gustavo nunez
How about for Laird, Inge, and Carlos Guillen? lol
To sweeten the deal, we’ll add superstars Don Kelly and Ryan Raburn.
i hate joe morgan nd jon miller nd i get your point its a bad deal but when you think think bout it it isnt terrible.casey blake is a poor man’s mike lowell,leadership,decent bat nd defense,CHEAPER and rusell martin is laird with a BETTER bat nd tigers actually can keep avila cuz he’s the son of someone in the front office so how bout
martin,blake,nd some cash 4 casy crosby,gustavo nunez,nd billy nowlin?
I wasn’t saying your offer was a bad deal. It would hinge on Russell Martin’s ability to become a good player again (which may happen if he doesn’t catch 162 games a year like under Torre). I’m just trying to make a point that the Tigers have a bunch of crap players.
I’d do that deal.
Sorry to say this but the Rangers and the Astros have to be on that list some where since he is a Texas Native. There was talk of him wanting to play with his Child hood buddy Micheal bourn so I wouldnt rule it out.
Will it happen? I think in the Long run Carlos Lee could be shifted to bench and Replacement OF He will still get like 300 ABs but he wont see them every single day.
Would love to see him in Padre land. I would usually say it would never happen. But with new ownership and Jedi Jed at the helm my Padre cynicism has been dulled.
Really don’t see the Yankees doing this now that Gardner has shown he can handle the job.
The only way I see Crawford in pinstripes is if the utter failure of Granderson this season causes Cashman to trade him, move Gardner to CF and sign Crawford for LF.
Still, I don’t see the Yankees giving up on Granderson this soon, but it’s possible.
I can see the Angels going all in for him. He would revitalize that lineup and their defense.
Can’t see the Red Sox doing it as Gammons has convinced Red Sox Nation that Kalish will hit .500 for his career and Reddick will be making a run at Bonds’ single season record before the All Star break next year.
In all seriousness, the Red Sox should sign him but I see them more into the idea of Werth who will get less years/dollars than Crawford. I think Werth will be playing in Boston sending pop flies over that wretched LF wall for the next 4 years.
Why does everyone have a problem with Gammons? He gives his opinion and backs it up. He may be biased towards the Red Sox but he’s kinda working for them. If he worked for any other team he would be saying the same stuff about their team and their prospects. The reason why he brags up the Red Sox farm system so well is because of the talent in it. They have some potentially future studs. He says nothing that scouts and other MLB experts wouldn’t say. This man knows his baseball.
The Angels will be looking to replace Matsui, but they have no less than TEN arbitration cases, and they have a $ 100 million payroll before you even add those guys in. They have to be considered a top candidate to get Crawford. Boston is also in the mix for him.
It would be really interesting to see how the Yanks approach this off season, especially with regards to Granderson, Swisher and Gardner. Here’s my take.
Gardner-Not that money is ever really an issue as far as “being able to spend”. However, I would have to imagine that Cashman would like to keep some sort of flexibility with the payroll to avoid having a $10-$15 mil player at ever position. Gardner has performed well and it really shouldn’t come as a surprise. I don’t see this year being a fluke. His career minor league totals were a very solid .289/.389/.383. He will never be a power guy but his speed and plate discipline has been strong and has the highest OBP of any Yankee @ .389, the 2nd highest walk total @ 49 walks and is 3rd in # of pitches taken behind Tex and Swisher. His BaBIP is a little high @ .342 but I think his speed creates a little bit of luck too. His plate discipline has really helped him a lot and I think he will continue to be a solid .285/.370 hitter for most of his career. COnsidering how he’s under control for another 4 years I think the Yanks should hold on to him.
Granderson- This year has been a tough one for him and I think his groin injury really hampered him in some ways. Cashman invested a lot to get Granderson (Austin Jackson, Phil Coke) and I can’t really see him dumping Granderson after 1 bad season as a Yankee. I’ve got to think that he will be given another year to prove that he can regain his form and improve his overall numbers. He’s not “crushingly” expensive by Yankee standards but is too expensive for most teams for them to move him unless we eat most of his salary. However, with his combo of speed, power, hustle and ability he’s still a better option that most CF on the market.
Swisher- I think he is the key to the Yankees plan of attack. How the Yankees ultimately view his value from here on out is important. Swisher has had a very, very solid year and has shown signs of becoming a better overall hitter even in factoring in his BaBIP (.331). His walks are down a lot this year but his bat avg and obp have remained solid and he’s on pace to put together another 30 dbls+ and 30 hr+ year. At age 29 he’s one of the younger Yankee position players and aside from Cano he’s probably been the Yanks most consistant power hitters. With Arod, Jeter and Posada advancing in age and showing signs of age and susceptibility to injuries, Swisher, who can be had for 2/19 mil thru 2012, can be the foundation of their power offense along with Cano and Texeira. Also, his ability to play both LF, RF and 1B makes him a key player to fill in if someone goes down for a while.
What would be very interesting is whether or not the Yanks would consider signing Crawford and playing Granderson in RF and making Swisher the primary DH. An OF of Crawford, Gardner and Granderson would be amazing defensively. Arod and Posada most certainly need to spend time at DH and Montero should be knocking on the door sometime in 2011 but it would be an interesting thought.
Crawford LF 150 games
Jeter SS 150 games
Tex 1B 150 games
Arod 3B 140 games
Cano 2B 150 games
Swisher DH
Posada C/DH (C 80 games/DH 40 games)
Granderson RF 150 games
Gardner CF 150 games
On days that Arod needs a rest @ DH then you rest another player either at LF, RF or 1B. You can easily rotate players in and/out of the DH spot and the corner OF spots so that you get as many at bats as possible for the starters.
I think that’s a fair analysis. The Yanks will probably not go after Crawford because of the fine season that Gardner is having. Granderson’s true weakness is hitting LHP’s, but the rest of his game is solid. He should rebound just fine. What I do expect the Yanks to do is go after Cliff Lee and pay him the big bucks. Vazquez is likely outta there. Pettite will do his annual mini Favre routine, and they’ll have to lay out major cash to extend Jeter and Mariano for a few seasons.
Crawford is virtually the same player statistically as Jose Reyes, but Reyes does it at SS, not in LF. Crawford, a great player, is over-hyped.
Umm you should take the Dodgers off this list.. Does no one know the Manny Contract? Jesus..
Manny is off the books at the end of the season, so that’s plenty of money to go after Crawford.
Thats wrong.
Hes getting paid more in 2011 and 2012 then he is this year.
Oops. You’re right. I didn’t read the fine print about the deferred payments. Dumb move by the Dodgers to mortgage their future like that.
If the day ever came where Crawford put on a jays uniform I would probably seizure with excitement.
I’m gonna take a stab and say he signs with an NL team. Seems like the type that always wants to improve his resume.
tiger fans how bout? casey blake(poor man’s mike lowell), russell martin(he’s gerald laird but younger,faster,stronger,better offensively) 4 billy nowlin, Melvin Mercedes,nd gustavo nunez?
I have a very strong feeling that Inge will be brought back.
the Tigers should sign Crawford, Jason Werth, and Cliff Lee, for starters. There is $ 75 million worth of Dombrowski’s bad contracts expiring after this season.
There will be vacancies at 2B, SS, 3B, LF, RF, DH, Catcher, at least one SP, and RP. Three of those vacancies will have to be filled by players that can bat 2nd, 3rd, and 5th.
just spitballing but would dodger fans be mad if the opening day 2011 lineup was
1.Furcal
2.Theriot
3.Kemp
4.Ethier
5.Loney
6.Hermida/FA Left Fielder
7.Blake/New 3rd basemen(lets dream)
8.Ellis/FA catcher
9.FA Pitcher/Kershaw/Billingsley
Red Sox how bout martin,blake,sherill 4 nava/hermida nd doubront?
What are the odds Jennings pans out anyways. I do agree, it will be tough to keep him without increasing payroll. In a perfect world, I’d like them to keep all 3 (Crawford, Pena, & Soriano). I could see them keeping both Pena & Soriano, but not Crawford. Its a shame, because now that their finally competitive, they have to lose all their good players. If Crawford does indeed leave T.B. I certainly hope its the N.L. (either the Giants, Pads, Cubs, or Braves).
I believe Crawford would end up in either LA with the Angels, in Detroit, the Yankees, or maybe even the Rays again. The Angels did put T. Hunter’s locker next to his in the ASG, and they do need an outfielder since Juan Rivera and Bobby Abreu are having less-than-average years, and might be declining. Plus Crawford is perfect for Scoscia’s style of “small ball”. Detroit might get him if Dombrowski would sign him for at least 4-5 years. The Yankees, well everyone knows about them. Payroll flexbility, high chance for a championship ring ect. The reason he might not, NY is the spotlight, the media is brutal, players might not like that senario. And would CC do that to the Rays, leaving them for a rival? Only God and he knows. And chances of him coming back to the Rays are very slim, as they do not have the money to resign him, unless CC would take a low discount to play for the Rays. The Red Sox would want to, woud be a good move by them, but then again they might not since Cameron is signed for a 2 year deal, unless they wde him to a team that needs him. Drew and Ells will be under team control past the 2011 season. Reds and Nats are unlikely, and the White Sox could do it but they would have to move either Rios, Quentin, or Pierre. Pierre would be the choice but would KW do that? And there is no guarantee would go there. I don’t like the Dodgers’ chances even though CC would fit in nice, but they would get outbid. Padres, it would be a good fit because along with that great pitching, now you have an excellent defense. But Petco Park isn’t the ideal place to hit even if Carl isn’t a big power hitter. Giants could do it, even though Brian Sabean has had the money to sign big names but passed on them, and signed Rowand, not to insult Rowand, but AT&T Park isn’t a great place to hit while Philly is, the place he was before he went to SF.
dodgers chances of signing crawford are as good as them making the postseason. and knowing mccourt’s cheapness that probably wont change granted if the team is still his goin into this offseason but why are we all so focused on CC? there’s dunn who’s pretty much a sure thing nd werth who with there power nd run production can make up 4 all the sb nd infield hits CC gets.there are also cheaper guys who can provide pop and versatility like huff,burell,podsednik,reed johnson nd gomes
Well, we are talking about Carl Crawford because this is a thread about him called “Potential Suitors For Carl Crawford” incase you have not noticed…
well seeing that you didn’t mention Atlanta who MANY people think will go all in on Crawford, I’m thinking you don’t really know what’s going on about Crawford.
Signing Crawford will be a big mistake for whoever signs him. He isn’t that good for the mony he is going to get. Once you get older- invariably injuries will arise. A comparable to look at is Chone Figgins, whos is doing a lot of nothing in Seattle after getting a nice deal.
are you comparing Chone, who’s never been more than a +5 WAR player EVER to Crawford, who’s routinely in the +11-+12 WAR range? Plus, Crawford is 3 years YOUNGER than Chone. thanks for playing.
Crawford in a Braves jersey would be a dream come true.
amen
im a yankees fan and im interested to see him go the padres, nats or the whitesox, i hope he doesnt go to red sox or angels im dont really want us to get him either we dont have room in the of and it would just be SO unfair.
The Yankees covet Crawford, but starting pitchers are the real ‘arms race’ and they will be all in on Cliff Lee, who will be priority 1C this season (after Jeter & Rivera). With 23 million coming off the books for Pettitte & Vazquez, expect 5/100 for Lee, and Chamberlain moving into the 5th spot in the rotation.
Crawford is trickier. The only significant arb cases are Chamberlain and Hughes (it’s stars or scrubs for NY), so the payroll picture is pretty set. However, if they sign Cliff Lee the Yankees will not be able to hold the line on this year’s payroll (which I think is a Cashman goal) without both of two things happening.
1. Derek Jeter taking a significant (20% or greater) paycut, say 4/66 (which would keep him the highest paid SS through the duration, and be more in line with his projected value moving forward).
2. Trading Curtis Granderson or Nick Swisher as a pure salary dump (for ex., Granderson to the Angels once they have Crawford) to create payroll flexibility and room in the OF.
To be honest, I’m not sure what they were thinking by signing Granderson, given his trajectory and what they knew was coming down the pipe with Crawford and Werth. Probably, they were just trying to figure out whether Gardner is an everyday OF (the answer…YES!). Now that they know that, an OF of Crawford/Gardner/Swisher would make the team younger (Crawford is younger than Granderson), better at the plate, on the bases, and defensively.
Thank you for the good summary on Yankees situation…Looking at things from Toronto….it definately seems like Gardner is ready for Centre Field and the leadoff spot in the order. In addition, with Matsui becoming a free agent, the Angels have to make a decision on how to proceed which means they can become interested in Granderson.The only thing in doubt is….if you are the Angels….wouldn’t you rather have Crawford over Granderson?
P.S. Edit…In addition to already having Torii Hunter….it appears Peter Bourjas is ready to be promoted from AAA. Angels may not need Granderson and may not feel the need to be generous to the Yankees by helping them unload a salary.
Jeter has a lock on leadoff for the next couple of years…Gardner profiles as a #9 hitter.
My thinking is that if the Yankees get Crawford, then Granderson is expendable. From the Angels’ perspective, if they can’t get Crawford they might accept Granderson as a substitute. If not, then surely some team out there (the Mets, the Braves) who need an upgrade at CF. Granderson still has two relatively affordable years on his deal.
You are probably right on being able to unload Granderson….Jays did it last year with Alex Rios. White Sox picked him up on waivers….his contract was more generous than Granderson’s
How is the author’s payroll commitment in parenthesis a good gauge without including estimated arbitration?
I estimate Crawford will command 18 mm per year over 6 years and Cliff Lee with a 4 or 5 year deal at the most that he’s turning 32, Aug. 30. With 4, 88 mm (22 mm per yr); with 5, 95 (19 mm per yr). I see the Halos passing on Crawford and heavy on Lee if Texas is unable to retain him (going against Gammons speculation). The Stankees heavy on Crawford; and Texas diligent about retaining Hamilton if Mark Cuban wins them.
If I’m Sabean, I’m opening the checkbook for BOTH Dunn & Crawford, no doubt. Imagine what those 2 would do to your lineup. Dunn batting 3rd, Crawford 2nd or 5th. Seems like a perfect fit. High payroll, need. Clearly priority #1 & 2 for Sabean this winter.
would love the braves to make a push at crawford. if we got him we would be the favorites hands down next year in the NL. our pitching is already amazing and with freddie freeman coming up to replace glaus will fix the 1b gap. lineup i would like to see
1st base – freddie freeman
2nd base – martin prado
shortstop – alex gonzalez
3rd base – chipper jones
catcher – brian mccann
right field – jason heyward
center field – carl crawford (move him to center)
left field – omar infante
with our stacked pitching staff…. hudson, lowe,jair,hanson,melen/minor. and awsome bullpen.