The Red Sox announced this afternoon that first baseman/outfielder Allen Craig has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, meaning that he is no longer on the club’s 40-man roster.
That Craig cleared waivers unclaimed isn’t necessarily a surprise, given the lack of production he’s experienced in the past two seasons and the significant amount of money that remains on his contract. Had any team claimed the 30-year-old Craig on waivers, they would have been required to assume the remaining $25.2MM that he is owed through the end of the 2017 season. The outright does put an exclamation point on what has been an exceptionally sudden fall for Craig, who as recently as 2013 was one of the Cardinals’ most productive bats.
Craig suffered a lisfranc fracture in his foot at the end of the 2013 season and was never himself in 2014 before reaggravating his left foot following a trade to Boston. (Craig, along with Joe Kelly, joined the Sox in exchange for John Lackey.) Over his past 564 Major League plate appearances, Craig is hitting just .207/.275/.302. The Sox had already optioned him to Triple-A earlier this month, but the outright removes him from the 40-man roster, which is now at 37.
Craig, technically, has the right to refuse his outright assignment, but doing so would mean forfeiting the money remaining on his contract, so he’ll remain with Triple-A Pawtucket in hopes of rediscovering his stroke. Boston’s offense has struggled of late and has been anemic all season long when facing left-handed pitching, so a productive Craig would go a long ways toward boosting the team’s overall outlook. In 25 plate appearances at Pawtucket thus far, Craig is hitting .261/.320/.391 with three doubles.
Someone had better be picking up all the bar tabs in Pawtucket.
Let him go to Japan, If he can hit pitching their maybe he could rebuild his Career , if not he can come back to be the Red Sox Hitting coach !
Hahaha, we suck enough as is and you want a guy who hit .120 in 2 years with us to be a batting coach for anyone, nevermind us.
Great joke.
Thought Craig was supposed to make Cardinal fans forge about Albert.
Albert made us forget about Albert.
The Cardinals got pretty lucky with the whole situation.
#1. The Cardinals have been successful since Albert left.
#2. Albert went to a West Coast team that wasn’t successful his first couple years there so there wasn’t a lot of coverage of him.
#3. He declined and his contract has looked bad since the first season of it.
If not for all of those, you probably would have seen a lot more fans upset at the Cardinals. Nonetheless, it ended up pretty easy to move on for Cardinals fans.
didn’t they get Wacha as the compensation pick from not signing him as well?
Edit: After a quick search, turns out I was correct.
You know you’re great when you average 3.4 WAR and a 128 OPS+ in 3 full seasons and its listed as “wasn’t successful”
Considering what they’re paying him, yes it wasn’t successful. Not like he came as a cheap player.
Plus, he was injured for much of the 2013 season.
Any first baseman with his numbers for the last three years would not be “successful”. (which is 3 out of 4 years of sub-par play with the Angels if if you include this season)
100% agree. I’m very glad for the 11 years I watched him play and I can’t wait to see him back in St. Louis for the HOF.
Edit: but I actually said the team wasn’t successful and he declined.
25 Million for 3 WAR is ludicrous.
You know you’re bad when…
Why do we judge a player based off his contract? A 3 WAR player is a solid player regardless if he makes 500K or 25M.
Um, no actually. You’re just wasting money if you’re spending that much on one player, unless they’re putting up a MINIMUM of 8 WAR.
I know baseball doesn’t have a salary cap, but you can’t just get all the $20 Million players like *that*.
Money doesn’t mean success in baseball. Who cares if you’re wasting money if you’re getting production, which Pujols had provided.
Pujols didn’t provide jack for the Angels. It was a stupid deal and he shouldn’t never left STL, where he was producing twice the stats in every category.
“Money doesn’t mean success” That literally just proves my point. As of right now A-Rod has earned 150 Million over the last 5 years and has only hit 20ish HRs in that span.
10.8 WAR isn’t “providing jack?” Him leaving STL was the best case scenario for STL.
STL wasn’t the difference, his age is.
Him joining LA was a mistake for them, if not for him. Both the Pujols and Hamilton deals were garbage from Day 1. These stupid multi-million dollar deals just ruin the sport.
That 10.8 WAR is spread over 4 seasons, so it’s not that impressive. If he was making about 1/3 of what he is now, then maybe. Reality is he’s a shadow of his former self. He can’t hit over .300 anymore, can’t hit 40 HRs anymore, but still costs over $20 Million. It doesn’t work.
The Cardinals are so happy Arte Moreno had a “wild hair” and threw in an extra 30- million + to steer Albert away from them at the last moment.
Well it was only the “last moment” because that’s when he signed. It’s not like he was about to sign with St. Louis. He was pretty unhappy with the St. Louis front office at the time.
I believe it has turned out quite well for the Cardinals that Pujols signed with Angels.
Craig had one good season then injuries hit him
Not really. But that has nothing to do with my comment about Pujols.
Shows you how well run the Cardinals organization is, as an Orioles fan I am jealous. year in year out they do their thing
They might have missed on the Miller for Hayward deal.
Is his fall seriously all about the foot injury? He’s really fallen off a cliff right when you’d have expected him to be solidly in his prime.
Besides BABIP, he declined for 3 straight years before this year. Just a really strange career.
Shame that it came to this. Good thing for the Sox that he doesn’t have 5 years of service. Matt Joyce is in a similar boat, but Joyce has over 5 years of service so he would be eligible to refuse assignment and retain his salary (just like a release). Craig can’t do that because he hasn’t hit 5 years yet.
They may as well release him at this point. Giving him more ABs at the MLB level hurts the team. Its not as if he can do well in the minors and some team will be convinced to take on his contract.
Well, he did get somewhat of a late start on his MLB career, so he’s about to turn 31. Still, he shouldn’t have collapsed as suddenly as he has. Just can’t catch up to major league fastballs anymore, which is bizarre. Reminds me a little of Garrett Atkins, the former Rockies 3B who got MVP votes after a 136 OPS+ year early in his career, then was gone (for no apparent reason) at age 30.
You know that’s a pretty good parallel
Atkins couldn’t catch up a with Fast Ball anymore,Beside out of Coors Field Wasn’t the same !
Brad Hawpe was another Colorado player with that same career arc.
Hey that guy lives on my street now! I don’t ever see him because he’s a volunteer HS coach, but I looked up those same stats you posted. Surprising that his career dissolved so quickly. At least he went out on his own terms and racked up enough salary.
Looks to me like The Wrench has turned into The Monkey Wrench. Can hitters get Steve Blass disease?
No, but they get old. Players usually decline in their 30s.
Craig isn’t even old yet lol. Not even 5 years in the league.
He’s 30 and with old-player skills. Often guys like him fall off a cliff in their 30s, without a broad set of skills to fall back on. Craig has no speed, no defensive value, so losing a bit of bat speed really hurts him.
He sucks because apparently he’s decided to succumb to those recent injuries. Has nothing to do with age. There are many players who hit their prime at 30.
Sure. But usually those players have a broader set of skills than Craig has.
Exactly. So Craig can’t blame this on age.
I doubt Craig thinks he’s old, but his body appears to be telling him otherwise. Perhaps he’s just never been able to heal fully from his injury. It’s certainly not unprecedented to see a hitter – especially one whose career began later than most – to hit a wall and be done around 30. Remember Bob Hamelin?
I wouldn’t have expected this. It looked like the Red Sox got very good value out of a pitcher they didn’t really want any more-Lackey. Craig can probably still play, and since they have to pay him anyway, he’s essentially a stock pick in a company that had better days and is really beaten down. You already paid for it. Maybe it will go back up.
The Red Sox really got the short end of the stick on the Lackey for Kelly/Craig deal.
We’ll see how Lackey vs Kelly goes this year, Lackey has noticeably better ERA/FIP but Kelly has him easily beat in xFIP and SIERA so far
You have to take in to account shedding Craig’s salary too. That looks like a big win for the Cards right now
you also have to factor in that lackey was saying that he wouldn’t take the mound for the sox under the contract he had. kelly and craig vs. a retired lackey is a win for the sox.
Cardinals got the best of this deal. Anybody who believes otherwise is in denial. Period
Evaluating the results of any trade this soon is a little shortsighted. Craig has been a bust, sure, but Lackey has been just okay for the Cards. His K rate has been much lower than his career rate, which may just be small sample size or diminished stuff; his velocity is down a bit this season. Kelly might end up as a good starter but he also might just be a good reliever; if Lackey leaves St. Louis after this season and Kelly turns into something the trade will look a bit better for the Red Sox, although the salary relief St. Louis got can’t be discounted either.
Lackey may not be the pitcher he was but he’s the bargain of the year. He’s only making a half million dollars. You’re right though, Kelly could still make this good trade for Boston.
Yeah, that was a great clause in that contract – I wonder with the rise in TJ surgeries if more teams will try to add minimum option years like that. Too bad Boston didn’t reap the benefits of that, but all reports were that Lackey was going to raise a fuss in Boston about it. Perhaps he is working on an extension in St. Louis that will overcompansate him for the future but make up a little for this season.
Lackey has been very solid but there’s no need for STL to talk extension. If he’s good, he’ll get a nice contract offer from someone, maybe even the Redbirds. Maybe he goes back to the Angels.
True, principally due to the money remaining on Craig’s contract. I still believe Joe Kelly can be a solid AL starter. But who would’ve believed Craig would fallen this dramatically in what should be the prime of his career? There’s certainly bounce back potential with him but right about now it looks bleak.
And since St. Louis and Boston are both “win it all” teams, if the Cards don’t win the whole thing in the next couple years with Lackey, how much of a “win” will this trade really be?
Lackey’s 37 and not getting any younger.
Cardinals got a 36 year old who could break down at any minute. Sox got a guy under 30 who’s about the same or better talent-wise.
Craig or no Craig I think the Sox still won.
…but he didn’t retire. So, why is that even an option? The correct equation is Kelly and Craig for Lackey. Cards win any way you look at it.
The retiring thing was never going to happen. They could have at least tried communicating with him about it. He never actually said he is going to retire btw; it was all rumors. It didn’t make sense to retire just as he started getting good again. I never believed it.
It was a bad trade when it happened, and it looks even worse now looking back.
situations change when you change teams. feeling disrespected by a team can do a lot of things. 4 years of cost controlled kelly and taking on a salary dump for one of lackey.
Teams change, but money doesn’t.
Lackey’s only two options were to threaten to hold out in an attempt to get a 2 year deal, or play out the year and hit FA again. Retirement didn’t make sense then, and it doesn’t make sense now. It’s very naive to believe that he would have actually retired and left future earnings on the table when he is still capable of playing.
And Kelly does have value being a back end starter for 4.5 years… but not as much value as Lackey had being a front of the rotation starter for 1.5 years. Years of control doesn’t always win out. You have to take a qualitative approach. Or no one would ever trade prospects.
The front office lacked a cohesive strategy. They need a pitcher like Lackey, not Kelly, right now. If they were not going to overspend for an “ace” in FA, then it just makes the situation even less attractive from Boston’s point of view. And we didn’t even mention the sunk cost (in player and money) of Craig. Bad deal all around.
they did not lack a strategy. they went out and signed bats and a young rotation with upside, most of whom were going to rely on the teams defense to help them win.
there is a difference between not having a strategy and not being successful with that strategy.
You’re right. I meant they did not have a good strategy. Instead of just bats, they should have invested in a top arm (via FA or trade) in my opinion.
Been too long coming
I give the Red Sox props for not being married to bad decisions. It was a horrible trade. At least they aren’t letting their pride get in the way of the good of the team.
The fans, however, different story. Especially on here.
I hear the exact same things (or worse) coming from the ramblings of some fans of other teams ECB.. Lackey did say he was going to retire, but like you and most other logical fans of the game? I believe it was a ploy to just get an extension that didn’t work in St Looie either. Some fans here just gripe about it from both sides for various reasons.
I still do think Kelly will turn into a average #3-4 eventually, his 95-99mph FB, which sits that high all outing long, slider and curve combo are just too good overall to be a reliever. In another year, when Lackey is long gone from the Card’s the deal will look better, just not the big win Cherrington was hoping for.
But that’s the thing… Lackey, himself, never actually said that. It was just speculation. In no interview did he ever mention that. Not on the radio, not on TV, not newspaper, not online, not anywhere.
Second, Kelly does have potential, but his ceiling is not high. Even if he pitches to his potential, the value and salary relief the Cards got from the deal from two expendable pieces makes them the winner. The Red Sox, on the other hand, could have used a veteran consistent pitcher like Lackey, especially since they were not going to pay Lester his asking price, or bring in a comparable arm like Scherzer or even Shields.
Think of it this way. The Red Sox would love to reverse the trade. The Cards… no way!
Here’s the quote from the Alex Spier interview regarding retirement. Lackey said:
“I haven’t thought that far ahead. Just thinking about pitching right now. It’s definitely something I’ll have to think about at the end of the season…”
I don’t know why Red Sox automatically assumed it meant he was going to retire. They could have spoken to him directly and made him feel like he was welcome there instead of shipping him out.
Now, they’re in dire need of pitching, and someone like Lackey would be perfect for them this year.
I liked Craig when he was with the Cards. I liked the trade. Lackey was an ok guy-I was hoping the Sox would extend him. I hope Craig regains his hitting stroke and plays 1B next hear for the Sox. If Kelly can get some movement on his fast ball or learn the splitter from Koji he could be amazing. Hope springs eternal.
So did Craig’s contract become non-guaranteed after being outrighted? If so, he’ll probably be released before next season begins.
The Cardinal know when to hold em and when to dump em. But they might have messed up on Miller for Hayward. Same thing when they dumped Beltran.
I was hoping the Pirates would take a serious look at him. career .274 hitter in PNC and the pirates could use a first basemen (even though they seem all in on pedro) Yeah Craig’s contract is huge given his performance the past couple years.
Shame the sox don’t need an outfielder sending tabata there (who also keeps clearing waivers) could possibly work
Here’s the deal…..the Red Sox were horrible last year and were looking to the future. They saw Kelly as a good prospect and he still could wind up being—as many say—a good end of the rotation guy who could make this deal look better. Craig? Hard to know why a guy in the prime of his career who had been a solid run producer would suddenly “lose it.”
Can he be Worst than what you got now 1