Coco Crisp‘s presence on the payroll and the roster is hurting the Oakland Athletics. The veteran outfielder used to be a star for the A’s, but in retrospect, offering him such a long-term deal seems like a bad idea given how poorly – and how rarely – he’s played.
At the time, the signing seemed like a positive step. Billy Beane and the front office were ready to spend big bucks on a proven player, and Crisp was a perfect fit for the A’s roster. But now, Crisp is owed $11.75 million next season, making him all but impossible to trade. The aging outfielder will be 36, and he’s coming off a season in which he played just 44 games. In fact, since coming to the A’s in 2010, Crisp has only played more than 130 games in two of his six seasons, and he’s never played more than 145 in his entire career.
The Athletics are stuck with him, and that ties their hands in a lot of ways. He’s making too much money to be a bench player, so if he stays healthy, Crisp is likely to be a regular in the outfield. Josh Reddick is in possession of right field and Billy Burns has a firm grasp on center, so that leaves left field – where Crisp is bound to take away at-bats from someone more deserving.
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Even if Sam Fuld and Ike Davis part ways with the Athletics, as they should, what happens to Mark Canha? Billy Butler is occupying the designated hitter spot, so Canha would need to play first base to get his bat into the lineup. If Canha is at first, that means one of the catchers – Stephen Vogt or Josh Phegley – must sit out. It significantly decreases the A’s lineup options.
Based on Crisp’s last two seasons, having him in the lineup over the others is a major downgrade. In 2015, he batted just .175/.252/.222, without a single home run and just two stolen bases. In 2014, Crisp hit .246/.336/.363, with nine homers and 19 stolen bases. That’s a big improvement over last year – especially in the steals department – but it’s not equal to what Canha, Vogt or Phegley can do.
Of course, if Crisp could find his form from any prior season, it would be a different story. In his prime, Crisp was a very productive hitter, as well as a great outfielder. Unfortunately for the A’s, injuries and age have resulted in a decrease in that production, and it seems unlikely that the star player the A’s thought they were signing to a long-term deal will ever return again.