Is there some sort of radical treatment we can test on Allen Craig rather than send him to the glue factory? Could we graft a babboon tendon into his foot or something?
Next man up, err I mean Down: Craig
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DRS might be better qualified to answer this, but unless you're taking it from the upper body, I don't think it'd work. Most great apes don't have legs and feet as strong as homo sapiens. Gorillas are knuckle walkers. I'd recommend the polymer/composite they're using to keep Bartolo Colon pitching- I think it's a carbon nanotube/kevlar-nomex matrix, but I'm not sure.nothumb said:
... either that or we can send him to the plate next time with a giant fork, rather than a bat.
Meanwhile, not-a-prospect Travis Shaw has hit .265/.336/.459 in 100 September at-bats, while showing a moderate degree of positional versatility(can fake 3b and a small corner OF) along the way
nothumb said:
Death therapy, Bob. It's a guaranteed cure.
While the warning signs were there, it is crazy that Craig has had the worst possible outcome. I think the idea of "throw him to Pawtucket and see if he somehow figures something out" is the best possible solution. Unless the AAA roster gets so full they don't have space for it, it's better to go for the long shot that either his lower-body somehow improves or he figures out another way to contribute than to pay him to do that with some other team.
Assuming Craig realizes he's bantha fodder and doesn't opt out, and assuming the Sox do send him down again rather than completely punt, how long does he hang around? His deal is kinda backloaded, right? It's kind of interesting to imagine him dutifully reporting to minor league games every day for three or four more years. At what point do the Sox realize he ain't quitting and just let him go? If it was me I'd try to make him do something useful at least. Can he coach?
I think you are over thinking this.joe dokes said:
IIRC, our resident doctor (DRS) stated that Allen Craig's injury was a Lisfranc injury. He also stated that the surgery for the injury is what limits athletic activity. In fact, I'm pretty sure DRS predicted this very outcome from the start.
That's much better than what we've had at 1B (red sox have had a 101 wRC+ with .238/.318/.430 line) this year.O Captain! My Captain! said:
In a vacuum, such numbers are about average for a starting 1B. However, from a roster construction perspective, we have good hitters (wRC+ at least 110) in CF/RF (betts), SS (Xander), 2B (pedroia...), and obviously DH (ortiz). The team may just need an average 1B to be competitive.
Not to turn this into a Shaw thread, it's just that Craig seems absolutely buried depth-wise. Hanley is the presumptive 1b starter unless he absolutely can't handle the position, and Shaw looks like he absolutely deserves a shot before Craig ever would. Even Shaw probably starts off the year in AAA if the team goes with 13 pitchers. Bench of backup catcher, Holt, 4th OF, probably, unless you decide that Holt's the 4th OF and then you need someone who can play the middle infield. So Craig's the backup to the backup.EricFeczko said:
alwyn96 said:
Jason Bay got his full contract when he was bought out, but he had enough major league service time to refuse an assignment. I can't really remember a situation where players got less than the money remaining on the contract, but I also can't remember when this has come up when a player is early enough in his career to be sent down. It's pretty unusual. The bus rides and cold cut dinner spreads adds an interesting component to it. Maybe he'd agree to a lesser buyout to avoid that experience. Although plenty of experienced ball players have hung on in AAA for a bit hoping for another shot, playing for a lot less. Rickey Henderson played for the San Diego Surf Dawgs and Newark Bears and probably spent more in rent and food than he made playing.
This is my thinking. And mind you, I'm not talking about settling for half the money. More like he gets 20 of the 21 mil owed to him -- just enough to make it worthwhile for the Red Sox. Though I guess from Craig's standpoint, unless he wants to retire, he may as well get that extra mil? It's not like any other team is going to give him more of a shot than the Sox would.shaggydog2000 said:
Kei Igawa spent 2-1/2 years in the NYY minor league system collecting MLB paychecks.nothumb said:
HriniakPosterChild said:
Yeah, according to BBRef, Craig's made around $11M thus far in his career. $21M is still a ton of money. I mean, I would happily strikeout in every PA, drive the minor league bus, and put the coldcuts out myself for that kind of money. There are worse ways to live.
Maybe he can be an inspiration for young AAA future stars to sign guaranteed, team-friendly contracts early in their careers.
Financially speaking, would he do better with a lump sum of $20 million or $21 million spread over a few years?
He seems to have had a great attitude in the minors. Could probably earn a full buyout by becoming a complainer and/or clubhouse lawyer.
He seems to have had a great attitude in the minors. Could probably earn a full buyout by becoming a complainer and/or clubhouse lawyer.
A buyout for what amounts to virtually the full cost is sort of silly, though.... if he's getting paid, we should be at least keep him on the AAA roster where he could potentially still rebound. I can't imagine the insanity if the Sox bought his contract out and he signed with Tampa for league minimum then had a sudden return to vintage Craig.
I think the return to vintage Craig is very unlikely to impossible, but it's a chance. If you're paying him, shouldn't you at least still own that chance?
I think the return to vintage Craig is very unlikely to impossible, but it's a chance. If you're paying him, shouldn't you at least still own that chance?
EricFeczko said:
I believe he did (or at least expressed serious pessimism as to the outcome). And I'm not disagreeing that he's likely done. It just seems that in these situations there's always someone pushing the narrative that "he hasn't recovered yet" or some equivalent to "he's not really dead," and I haven't seen that.
joe dokes said:
Perhaps it's based on his having come to the team "broken"? By that I mean, maybe if he's still in St Louis where he had some success, there might be someone (media or fan) who has watched the guy come up, likes him and refuses to admit that he's toast. But there's no one around here with that history with him.
Sort of the same phenomenon as we see with prospects...people get attached to a guy at an early stage and no matter how much he might struggle and fail, he's always going to be one adjustment away from breaking out and being a star according to some folks.
kieckeredinthehead said:
There's a world of difference between a guy who is no longer the player he once was, and a guy who is no longer a player at all. Also, Wells had had a fine year just before the Angels traded for him. The Yankees, not so much, but they gave up essentially nothing for him.
All I'm saying is that buyouts don't happen because if you're going to pay 97% of the player's salary, you can trade him to some other team, pay nearly full freight and not have to deal with the union.Savin Hillbilly said:
kieckeredinthehead said:
And all I'm saying is that this requires the existence of a team willing to trade for him, which is unlikely to be the case for players in as bad a state as Craig.
Short math, assume he's not cash poor or in crazy debt or anything, and assuming no funky tax implications... 20m today is a slam dunk. Particularly given the backloading. With conservative assumptions about ROI it's still like 23M by 2018.DourDoerr said:
If he were looking for a buyout where the lump sum equals the future value of the 21m he's owed, depending on ROI assumptions it's probably like 17M. Of course the Sox would have no interest in doing that and it doesn't take into account whatever value you assign to not having to work over those three years.
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