Analyzing the Coco Trade

After a year of wild speculation over what would happen with Coco, the end was swift and anti-climatic. The negotiations with the Royals were not leaked to the press so there was little pre-trade analysis on the deal.

When Coco arrived in Boston he had big shoes to fill in Damon’s absence. Most fans expected him to be an instant success so they could forget about Damon’s trip to the Bronx. He brought speed and great defense to the team early on, but then came the broken finger. In his first season in Boston he never really got in a grove and had multiple trips to the DL.

Ellsbury was called up when Coco was struggling at the plate late in ’07 and quickly won over the fans. Crisp was a professional when he was benched and supported his teammate. Last off-season everyone believed he would be traded for a catcher or as part of a deal for Santana but he was still on the team when spring training rolled around. The platoon in the outfield worked for most of the season because of the steady parade of injuries. As the season came to a close Coco started to get hot and his trade value went up.

The Red Sox have a solid player in Jacoby Ellsbury and they needed to get him some more playing time as well unload some salary. It had reached the point where the Red Sox could not justify Coco’s salary when he was playing less than half of the games. The timing of today’s trade was surprising but the outcome is not. One of Theo’s main goals this off-season was to improve the bullpen and with the acquisition of Ramon Ramirez they have done that. Ramirez give Tito another option in the 8th should Oki struggle or give him a bridge to Oki and Papelbon by pitching the 7th.

Coco never developed into the player the Red Sox thought he might become. He has great defensive skills and is a good fastball hitter. His speed gives him the ability to swipe some bases but he didn’t get on enough in the lead-off spot. I think Coco will do better with a change of scenery and I think the Red Sox are a better team with Ellsbury in center. In the end I think fans will respect Coco for his contributions to the team and they will appreciate having another good arm in the pen.