The Oakland Athletics are close to a trade that will send outfielder Coco Crisp to the Cleveland Indians according to many outlets including MLB.
.@Indians close to acquiring OF Coco Crisp from @Athletics, @MLBastian reports. Clubs have not confirmed. https://t.co/JDzOASD2Cm
— MLB (@MLB) August 31, 2016
Coco Crisp to be Traded to the Cleveland Indians
The first place Indians were looking for an additional outfielder since Abraham Almonte is ineligible for the postseason. He was given an 80-game suspension in February for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. While he was able to come back on July 3rd, his ban includes not being able to play in the postseason.
The Athletics and Indians were a good match. The Athletics are out of serious playoff contention and their immediate future isn’t too promising. That can change as general manager Billy Beane is capable of improving his team with some good trades. Nonetheless, Coco Crisp is 36 and not getting any younger.
Looking Ahead
Crisp has a $13 million option that most likely won’t vest for next season. This gives the Indians some flexibility as they won’t have to be committed to Crisp past this season. He will need to reach 550 plate appearances or have 130 games played for the option to vest. He currently stands at 434 plate appearances and 102 games played. With slightly more than a month left, he probably won’t reach either milestone. He also figures to be in a platoon for the rest of the regular season furthering that notion.
In the 102 games that Crisp has played this year, he has hit .234/.299/.399 with 11 home runs and 47 RBI. Once a base stealing threat, Crisp has slowed down. He has stolen as many as 49 bases, but this year he has stolen seven. His numbers aren’t jaw-dropping, but he is a solid pickup for the waiver trade deadline.
Crisp played his first four MLB seasons with the Indians. He hit .287/.332/.424 with 35 home runs and 176 RBI over the course of 415 games.
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