Oakland A’s GM, Billy Beane may be the smartest GM out there, but he is not without his mistakes. Earlier this offseason, the A’s GM signed free agent OF, Coco Crisp, to a one-year, $5 million contract. Crisp, who is coming off an injury plagued 2009 season (shoulders), was among Beane’sfavorite players this offseason.
Now, Beane has made some ludicrous deals before in the past, but he really screwed up this one. Dishing out $5 million to a guy like Crisp, who has little to no significant trade value, is a really bad investment.
However, in his defense, Beane did have a lot of financial flexibility this offseason. He and the rest of the A’s front office couldn’t let that extra cash go to waste. And the A’s did come out aggressive this offseason—they tried to sign Marco Scutaro, Adrian Beltre and Aroldis Chapman.
Although Beane paid a hefty price for a guy like Crisp, the A’s should benefit in some capacity from the signing. Below are a look at Coco’s career stats as well as his projection for the 2010 season.
| Player | AB | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG. | OBP. | SLG. | OPS. |
| Crisp, C | 3106 | 860 | 59 | 327 | 259 | 453 | 137 | .277 | .331 | .407 | .738 |
Last season, Crisp hit .228/.336/.378 with 3 HR and 14 RBIs in 49 games with the Royals. This year, Oakland will expect to see an improvement, since Crisp should enter the season healthy. The A’s are expected to place Crisp near or at the top of the lineup, and will depend on his aggressive baserunning. Along with Rajai Davis, the A’s will expect Crisp to help generate some scoring opportunities.
Only time will tell whether or not Billy Beane made a bad investment, but here’s a look at my prediction for Crisp’s 2010 season:
PREDICTION:
.273/.336/.383, 6 HR, 54 RBIs, 23 SB