I was traveling for work yesterday and today so I missed the Crawford news when it broke. In fact, I found out about when my Red Sox-fan friend from college sent me a text asking if he should get a Crawford jersey or a
How great is Google Image Search? Here is CC and Hammer eating at a Wendy's while members of the rookie-league Princeton Devil Rays in 1999. The photo is from the October 25, 1999 St. Petersburg Times. Click it, and you can read the story about these future All-Stars.
Gonzalez jersey. (My response: grown men shouldn’t wear another man’s shirt.)
I need more time to process it but, here is my first reaction while I sit here waiting for my flight: We will hate this deal for three years and love it for four years.
Now that he has gone, we can finally admit the dirty secret Rays fans have agreed to overlook since CC arrived: he is great but not irreplaceable. It’s not his fault. He is a wonderful player and, from my experience with him, a better person. But he plays leftfield. And leftfielders that can run are pretty common (and pretty useless in Fenway). That isn’t to discount CC, who was worth 6.9 wins for our club last year. He is a great player and we will miss him, just not as much as we’d miss a centerfielder that did the same thing.
Either way, the length of the contract stuns me in light of CC’s game. The two greatest basestealers of all time (Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock) peaked at 29 and 35 respectively. Brock’s SB totals were basically cut in half when he was 36 and half again when he was 38 (and that was an era when it was good to run). Henderson’s steals were down 60% after his 34 year old season and continued to decline until a freak rebirth at 38 (hmmmmm what was happening in the Oakland clubhouse in 1998?).
The Sox just bought CC’s 30-37 year old seasons. [EDIT: Jonah Keri properly notes that they bought CC's 30-36 year old seasons.] Do they really think his career arc will be different than Lou Brock or Rickey Henderson? I don’t.
That said, I am not looking forward to those 30-34 year old seasons.
I think as CC’s stolen bases decrease with age his home run numbers will increase. By the final year of his contract he’ll be smackin’ 30 homers per year. While not truly as impressive as stealing 50 bases, MLB owners do actually pay more for the dingers. That should leave Boston pretty satisfied with this contract when all is said and done.
I suppose anything is possible but I think the much-discussed power potential we always though Crawford might have was overstated (anyone remember when we decided he was a future 3-hole hitter?). Seems to me that the era of aging hitters with increasing power numbers ended with a certain report prepared by a certain former U.S. Senator.
True, that’s when lesser physical specimens stopped “developing” power in the falls of their careers but few major leaguers are as naturally powerful as Crawford. He’s asked to hit singles and he does despite having the body of a slugger. Most 50 SB per season players are 5’8, 170lbs so hitting singles and stealing bases is about all they can do. Crawford is 6’2, 215lbs and trains like a football player. I simply don’t see how he won’t hit 30+ homers as the end of this contract nears. I’m obviously still rooting for him….but may they all be hit into an over-priced seat in certain short porch.