Former big league first baseman/outfielder Allen Craig has joined the Padres’ front office as an advisor to the baseball operations department, reports MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell (via Twitter). The move officially brings Craig’s playing career to a close.
Though Craig, 34, hasn’t been in the Major Leagues since 2015 with the Red Sox, he’d yet to hang up the spikes. He was in camp with the Padres on a minor league deal this spring and appeared in six games, and he spent the past three seasons with the Triple-A affiliates for Boston (2016-17) and San Diego (2018).
Craig’s peak in the Majors was brief but impactful. His 2010 rookie season didn’t stand out in any way, but he burst onto the scene in 2011 when he raked at a .315/.362/.555 clip and belted 26 extra-base hits (11 homers, 15 doubles) in just 219 plate appearances. Craig played a key role in the Cardinals’ postseason exploits that season as well and was rewarded with a World Series ring. He’d follow up that strong year with a highly productive .307/.354/.522 slash and 22 homers over an even larger sample of work (514 plate appearances) in 2012.
That sample was enough for the Cards to invest in Craig on a five-year extension back in Spring Training 2013. He made the move look like a bargain with another strong year in 2013, hitting .315/.373/.457 and landing his first (and only) All-Star nod.
Following that three-year peak in which he batted a combined .312/.364/.500 (136 OPS+), however, Craig’s bat completely evaporated. After suffering a Lisfranc injury late in 2013, he slumped through a woeful first half of the season in 2014 and found himself traded to the Red Sox alongside Joe Kelly in the deal that sent John Lackey to St. Louis.
Hitting .215/.279/.315 at the time of the trade, Craig saw his troubles grow even more pronounced with his new team. In 195 plate appearances with Boston from 2014-15, he mustered just a .139/.236/.197 line before being designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster. He’d finish out his extension in Triple-A before landing with the Padres in the 2017-18 offseason.
It’s not fully clear what Craig has in mind for the next phase of his career. As an advisor to the baseball ops department he could follow the path recently taken by former Rays right-hander Brandon Gomes, who is now an assistant general manager with the Dodgers. That’s but one of many roads to explore in retirement, though; current Astros manager A.J. Hinch worked in the San Diego front office, for instance, providing another potential blueprint for Craig’s post-playing days.
Whatever “The Wrench” has in store for him, he’ll embark on that journey with a career .276/.333/.435 batting line, 59 home runs, 107 doubles, three triples, 239 runs scored and 296 runs knocked in over the course of 534 big league games. Brief as his career was, he earned about $32MM as a player, made an All-Star team and captured a World Series ring — a successful slate of accomplishments if there ever was one. Best wishes to him in the next chapter of his baseball career.
Loved Craig as a Cardinal. Wish he could have got it back together.
+1
During his peak from 2011-2013 he was one of the most clutch hitters in the game. Countless times I recall him coming to bat with 2 outs and runners in scoring position, almost always came through with a hit it seemed.
Is it possible that what happened to Craig is exactly what’s happening to Chris Davis? Is it the game evolving and players not adapting?
No.
Davis didn’t suffer lisfranc injury, that ended his career.
“So what happened to Chris Davis then?”
He simply forgot how to play.
0-for-53 dating back last season, 0-for-32 to start this 1.
Know this thread about Craig, who I love and admire for attempting to comeback from gruesome lisfranc injury killed his career, but his injury has nothing to do w/ Davis
Nah Chris Davis’ problem is that he was never all that good in the first place. Orioles were just dumb for giving him that contract.
You don’t hit 53 HR and then 47 HR if you are not “all that good”. But thanks for your scintillating commentary.
Do the other years not count? Should we just ignore the 94 wRC+ in 2014? The 80 wRC+ in 2009? Even the 113 wRC+ in 2016 was hardly noteworthy.
I didn’t say he didn’t have great seasons. I said he wasn’t that great. There’s a difference. Before the extension (pre-2016), he had 8 seasons under his belt. Only 4 of them were good, and only 2 of them really stood out as special. In 3 of those 8 seasons he was BELOW replacement level according to fWAR.
That’s not a good ratio. Overall, he wasn’t great.
How many HRs would Davis have hit legitimately without Adderall?
Chris Davis was arguably the most feared hitter in 2012-2016 when the Orioles were a competitive team. Is he terrible right now? Yes. Was he good back then? Yes.
No he was not “arguably the most feared hitter” … ever. And yeah he was good but not great. The extension was ill advised at the time and people said as much,
What happened to Chris Davis is the guy has ADHD. If it’s managed with the right meds you can deal with it. If not life can be difficult. Especially when you are getting paid to hit a baseball and you have trouble concentrating.
No, Chris Davis has ADHD and he was medicating it but MLB made him stop because its listed as a PED and now he cant focus.
with a prescription adaeral’s legal in mlb – plenty of players use it, including chris davis
Just the kind of foolishness you would expect from someone named thanoswasright
This type of dropoff could happen to Ozzie Albies (hopefully/probably not). If that did happen ALMOST all of the negative comments from yesterday’s extension announcement would be “viral” egg on the face of the armchair GM’s of the world.
I’ve posted it elsewhere, but I don’t think the biggest issue with Albies contract was the amount, but he gave up 2026 and 2027 option years in his prime for basically peanuts.
Exactly, its the option years @ 7 mil per year that left me confused. The 7 for 35 mil was never a terrible deal.
This is apples to oranges. Albies actually hasn’t contributed all that much with his bat at this point in his career. He’s been able to be so valuable because he’s had a slightly above average bat, with great defense and base running on top of it. If he does crater with the bat, then maybe the contract would actually much up with his value.
A kind of interesting point about Craig and Brandon Gomes since you mentioned them together: they were only born three days apart in 1984
If I read correctly Craig signed a 5-year extension and THEN made the All-Star team. That is the trait of a good character guy. I bet anything his injury was both legitimate and disappointing. Someone like Logan Forsythe with 5 teams and 6 trips to the Injury List (including 2 stints on the 60 day) under his belt should not ne coaching Minor Leaguers – and that’s saying the least about the guy.
So Forsythe shouldn’t coach because he was injured and/or traded several times? Sorry, but that is just wrong. I wouldn’t want my coaches to have never had setbacks, because how could they help players that are currently suffering setbacks?
I always remember something a former teacher once told me. The best teachers are not former A students, they are former C students. Those former A students can help the best students, but they have no idea how to relate to slower learners. The former C students have been there and can impart learned wisdom to the kids that really need the help the most. It seems to me that can be a parallel to baseball coaching as well.
For you “hiflew” I’ll state my opinion on Forsythe more plainly. Logan is a liar who faked his way onto the DL. Before you re-tort here are 3 reasons I feel this way.
1) Could a Hot, young prospect miss that much time and still be drafted in the top 5 rounds? No. Logan Forsythe I’m sure knows that as well and in fact played through injuries as well as never missed significant time before he staryed making half a million a year. *Note the smooth transition to my next easy to understand point:
2) Hiflew – you’re a baseball fan, Right? How would you like to hang out on the field during BP? I’ve good good seats for you to watch the game too – they’re in the dugout! Sound Good? Go ahead and pick out one our new hoodies, you know how the players and staff are all styling in their new hoodies these days? and bro, one more thing: I’m going to pay you at least half a million a year. Only thing you have to do is be placed on the injured list. You might not realize because we kind of keep it secret but for most players on the DL/IL the day is this: 2 hours of physical therapy (you know bro, basically you go to the gym and then a massage) and then go to the game with better than VIP treatment.
3) Ok Hiflew Ok. Maybe I’m wrong about Mr. Forsythe but let’s think about this rationally. Someone in the entire history of baseball. No – make that since salaries took off – has faked an injury in order to stay highly paid. Bad News: you’re childhood dream of being the best player ever doesn’t come true. Good News: Grab a brand new hoodie (or brand new anything from Nike, etc.) and, well you know the rest. You want to find suspects? Start at the Mendoza Line and go down. You will find Forsythe on there, especially the years he all of a sudden got “hurt”. You’ll also find Chase Headley – if you think his game/act is respectable please save your energy defending him. That guy was brutal.
On a positive note: Sorry A. Craig!! Good Luck with the new job!! I just have to set Hiflew straight. Dude probably never hit one over the fence in his life!! Haha
I must have read dumber comments on this site before, but I honestly can’t remember one off the top of my head. So Logan Forsythe fakes injuries so he can have the sweet life pulling down big bucks while sitting on the bench? Only problem with that is Logan Forsythe doesn’t have a long-term contract that pays him for years no matter what. If you’re a mediocre player like Forsythe, and you have trouble staying on the filed, you have trouble finding a job. Which is why Forsythe had to sign a minor league contract this offseason and had to make the club in spring training.
I grew up in La Costa, CA. It is an Upper-Middle Class community. Go ahead and look it up if you’re not familiar with it. $500,000+ a year is considered to be a lot where I’m from. He may not have a long term contract but he is far, far from hurting. You write he might have trouble finding a job. My response is job? He has never had a job in his life. He might have trouble fUnding a job – like his gardner or his nanny – as for fInding a job, Logan doesn’t work dude, he plays. If you think Logan is an honest man, simply re-read point #3 which states in short “Someone in MLB has faked an injury while being highly paid at the same time” Yes you called me dumb – I attended the University of San Diego – does that beat where you went guy? Probably. If not, between the two of us, I’ll bring up the rear and rest assured we are looking really solid as far as Alma Mater.
Because I am not dumb (According to Webster’s Dictionary you stated I lack the human power of making speech – so I guess you meant to call me stupid) I rather easily and quickly looked up some stats. Logan F. has played in 864 games and spent 221 days on the DL. About a month a season on the DL/IL on average, although he has had some extra long stints. I stand by my claim, the man has faked injuries. There is no way he is going to allow himself to be injured that often when he was a prospect dude, no way whatsoever Soccalbball, maybe this will help you understand my speculation: Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd has stated he pitched almost all of his games high on Marijuana. He also once had to hide crack by digging it into the pitcher’s mound in Oakland with his spikes. Dwight Gooden has stated he missed the ticker tape parade back in 1986 because he decided to hang out at a crack house in the Bronx. Let’s get off crack though Socalbball. Alex Rodriguez has admitted to steroid use. Rafael Palmeiro angrily told CONGRESS – no less – that he, “has never used steroids, period” only to fail a steroid test a few months later. Mark McGwire has come clean about cheating with steroids. Now let’s do some speculating: Has Bonds used steroids? Most likely. Sosa? Yep. Clemons? For Sure – his best friend and workout partner, Andy Pettite has confessed. What about Pete Rose? Lied to America for years about gambling on his team. You are a hardcore baseball fan I’m sure. I’m not trying to break your heart buddy. But not only was Santa Claus really your parents but not all baseball players are Angels (no pun intended). The World Series has been rigged more than once, look that up, and I’m really sure Logan and others fake injuries. You say Logan doesn’t make much or have much security without a long-term contact. If the world was 100% baseball, I’d agree, bit it’s not and Logan does make much. More than you, your Father, and anyone in the history of your family I’m quite sure. By the way, don’t talk down to me because I will return the favor.
mayor of loserville just won re-election
But he lost to you at Fantasy Baseball I’m sure
I don’t particularly care where you went to school, but since it matters to you, I’ll tell you: UC Irvine undergrad, USC law school. I didn’t apply to University of San Diego for undergrad, but I was accepted at the law school there. Pretty good law school; not as good as USC.
And don’t try trotting out the dictionary definition of dumb, because my usage is correct by any dictionary; since you like Websters here’s the link. merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dumb
Yes, Logan Forsythe has made more money than I have, more money than my father did, and less than my father-in-law did. So what?
I’m not quite sure how the fact that people have used PEDs to enhance their performance and to recover more quickly from injuries proves that Logan Forsythe or any other player has faked injuries. Logan Forsythe has made a lot of money. Since he hasn’t retired, I assume he wants to continue to play and make a lot of money. Faking injuries is not the way to do it.
“Gentleman, which brings me to my next point: Don’t smoke crack”
Was your next easy to understand point is that you are mentally disturbed? Because … proof!
get a grip
Glad he’s still in the game. Only player I know of who had his career cut short trying to avoid a collision with an out of position umpire
Liked him as a player. It’s a shame his injury affected his game
Always enjoyed his early game as a Cardinal. His career arc was interesting, as he fell off so fast and so completely. Always held a little hope he’d make a big comeback. Wish him well in the next phase of the game.
I always liked him but I don’t know if it was injuries or what derailed him. Something happened that completely derailed his career.
I wish him well. Padres have another ex-cardinal in the fold.
Next up: the Hall of Very Good but too Brief!
The Padres are his local team. He loves the game and if he is bright enough he has been offered the unique opportunity to grab a good seat in the office. The Pads envision him as the replacement, or at least in the running, for the departed Mark Loretta, Office Version.
I’ll always remember Craig for his contributions to the Cardinals in ’11, ’12, and ’13. Went to see him a few times when he was with the Pawtucket Red Sox and it was sad to see how much his skills had deteriorated. The thing I recall most about those AAA games was how courteous he was to the fans.. I also noticed most fans waiting for his autograph had St. Louis Cardinals baseball cards.