Cuckoo for Coco’s 4th OF role

Could four outfielders work out for the Red Sox after all?
With the Red Sox finding no trading partner to depose Coco Crisp to, the Sox opted to keep Crisp instead of trading him to Texas for Gerald Laird. The move, so far, has turned out to be a smart one as the four-headed combination of outfielders is a large reason for the Sox’s early success.
Manny Ramirez, despite his homerless streak of late, paces the outfielders with seven homers to go along with a .299/.377/.535 line as a starter. He’s projected to get 606 at-bats at this pace.
J.D. Drew, who also starts except for the occasional day off against lefties, has a .284/.392/.413 line and almost was the hero last night, delivering a ringing double off Joe Nathan to pull the Sox within one and looks to get 538 AB this year.
Sensational Jacoby Ellsbury, who may win the Rookie of the Year, is batting .268/.378/.384 with three homers, and Coco Crisp has a .317/.337/.476 line despite two homers to Jacoby’s three. Ellsbury is slated to end up with 502 AB, and Crisp with 439.
Trading Coco Crisp, so far, has proven to be an ill-advised move. With all four outfielders experiencing various maladies at some point through the season so far, there has been ample time for Coco to get into the lineup, and while Jacoby is getting on base without a problem, the lack of power is being exposed, and Crisp is capitalizing and is currently outproducing his career line of .281/.329/.411.
As young players are wont to wear down as the season progresses, (a trait that sometimes victimizes veterans as well) the ability to keep Ellsbury fresh can’t be measured easily. Perhaps it’s an extra half-step in October, which would have been the difference between Dave Roberts never having to buy a beer in Boston again or the ignominy of having been swept in the ALCS.
This arrangement should not last the entire season, as the Red Sox should end up with more pressing issues as the season goes on, issues that will need to be solved with a trade of Coco. At this point, however, those issues don’t exist, and the Sox have to be thrilled how things have worked out so far.
The Sox boast tremendous depth in many areas, and the outfield is no exception. Once Crisp moves on, we will barely lose a beat if we recall Brandon Moss or Bobby Kielty, who can mash left-handed hitters and give either Ellsbury or Drew the day off against tough left-handers. Perhaps an issue in July will be a reliever, and Crisp can get us that reliever. Or perhaps the Red Sox finally give up on Lugo, but determine Jed Lowrie isn’t ready. Crisp can fetch us that shortstop.
Or perhaps Crisp can fetch a top prospect if the overall strength of the Sox continues.
The Sox seem to find themselves in an envious position; a position where they look to acquire prospects instead of major league help. The Red Sox just moved Bryan Corey for a player to be named later, almost certain to end up an organizational prospect who may have a shot at cracking the bigs, much like Sean Danielson (acquired for Joel Pineiro). The Red Sox are asking for a solid prospect from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Julian Tavarez. How often is it that a World Series contender can afford to move major league pieces for minor league puzzles?
Even if the Red Sox hang onto Crisp for the remainder of the year, it’s pretty clear that Crisp’s value has only gone up, and if he continues producing this way, some team, somewhere (I’m looking at a team in Chicago that needs a true center fielder with a butcher in left field) will pony up. The Red Sox have problems in getting Crisp playing time… but it’s a great problem to have.
What do you think? Is the Sox’s four-headed outfield monster turning out well? Should we keep the status quo or look to move Crisp at some point? Could the Red Sox be onto something with a four-outfield rotation that could perhaps last past this year?
The topic of this article was selected by Daniel Rathman as the award for winning the trivia question of David Ortiz having the most home runs at the All-Star Break of any Red Sox player in history.