You'd think that Oakland A's outfielder Coco Crisp has the most delicious baseball name of all-time. You'd be wrong. Hall-of-Famer Pie Traynor has that distinction. I picture a bunch of pies on treadmills and elliptical machines, trying to get more delicious as Pie Traynor shouts words of encouragement.
MLB Trade Rumors: Coco Crisp On Indians’ Short List
But Crisp is one of the better defensive center fielders on the trade market, and while he's not much of a hitter, he can hit just well enough to stick in a lineup. As far as deadline acquisitions go, he's someone who could make a team a little better for a second-tier prospect or two. Jon Heyman tweets that the Indians are "eyeing" Coco Crisp. That's an interesting match, and it's also a great sentence to show to someone from another country and have them attempt to figure out the context.
The Indians started the season with an outfield that was mostly set in stone, but Shin-Soo Choo is likely out for the year with a broken hand, and Grady Sizemore is having problems with his knee -- the one that didn't require microfracture surgery. Over the last week, the Indians have been starting a combination of Ezequiel Carrera, Travis Buck, and Austin Kearns alongside the one starting outfielder who is still healthy, Michael Brantley.
Crisp played for the Indians from 2002 through 2005 before being traded in a package for can't-miss prospect Andy Marte. Since then, he's been a consistent hitter, a fine fielder, and a little injury-prone. Sounds like a perfect fit for the Indians.
Other teams that could use Crisp include the Braves, Phillies, Rangers, and Tigers. Those teams might be looking for something a little more substantial and/or powerful, while Crisp's asking price is likely just right for the Indians, who are in that weird, fog-bound limbo between contending and rebuilding, where abandoning one to focus on the other is almost impossible.
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