Let's talk about the Wrench. Since suffering his Lisfranc injury Craig has been terrible:
2014 (STL and BOS) .215/.279/.315
2015 .152/.239/.203
2016 .572 OPS in mostly AAA
Of course, the Red Sox were able to shield themselves from much of the damage from the Craig contract by moving off the 40 man and storing him in the minors. This year his salary is $11M and is, effectively, the last year of his contract (team option for $13M in 2018 or $1M buy-out).
Thus far in Spring Training, Craig has been crushing the ball. To avoid the appearance of giving weight to some 20 or so ST at-bats, I won't list the specifics. To me, far more importantly, he looks healthy and I have heard multiple comments about how his swing looks like the guy who was a .300 hitter with some pop for the Cardinals.
To put Craig on the roster, the most likely spot to me appears to be the 5th outfielder/3rd (2nd?) first baseman type.
So there are a lot of moving pieces in play including where Swihart winds up. But obviously the big one is Craig himself. Throughout his career, Craig has hit lefties better than righties (.829 vs. .744 ops). Mitch Moreland has the opposite split (.778 vs. .673). Craig could slot in nicely as the short side of a 1b platoon with Moreland if Hanley is better served as the everyday DH (either because Hanley plays better with that consistency or his arm requires it or if Chris Young is playing regularly in the outfield).
What would the Sox need to see out of Craig to risk putting him back on the 40 man roster? Can he possibly achieve enough in Spring Training to make that happen, or is that sample size inherently too small considering the last few years and he needs to show it at AAA (which is my likely answer). If AAA how long would you need to see sustained success? Peter Abraham says he's starting in the minors no matter what.
And let me just say it in advance, I recognize that this is very premature and likely an over-reaction to a few good Spring Training at bats. But lighten up. It's baseball.
2014 (STL and BOS) .215/.279/.315
2015 .152/.239/.203
2016 .572 OPS in mostly AAA
Of course, the Red Sox were able to shield themselves from much of the damage from the Craig contract by moving off the 40 man and storing him in the minors. This year his salary is $11M and is, effectively, the last year of his contract (team option for $13M in 2018 or $1M buy-out).
Thus far in Spring Training, Craig has been crushing the ball. To avoid the appearance of giving weight to some 20 or so ST at-bats, I won't list the specifics. To me, far more importantly, he looks healthy and I have heard multiple comments about how his swing looks like the guy who was a .300 hitter with some pop for the Cardinals.
To put Craig on the roster, the most likely spot to me appears to be the 5th outfielder/3rd (2nd?) first baseman type.
So there are a lot of moving pieces in play including where Swihart winds up. But obviously the big one is Craig himself. Throughout his career, Craig has hit lefties better than righties (.829 vs. .744 ops). Mitch Moreland has the opposite split (.778 vs. .673). Craig could slot in nicely as the short side of a 1b platoon with Moreland if Hanley is better served as the everyday DH (either because Hanley plays better with that consistency or his arm requires it or if Chris Young is playing regularly in the outfield).
What would the Sox need to see out of Craig to risk putting him back on the 40 man roster? Can he possibly achieve enough in Spring Training to make that happen, or is that sample size inherently too small considering the last few years and he needs to show it at AAA (which is my likely answer). If AAA how long would you need to see sustained success? Peter Abraham says he's starting in the minors no matter what.
And let me just say it in advance, I recognize that this is very premature and likely an over-reaction to a few good Spring Training at bats. But lighten up. It's baseball.
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