Photo Courtesy ESPN
Recently, the Los Angels Dodgers have been embraced the role of baseball’s bottomless money pit–and they’ve been treated as such. Since being purchased by the Magic Johnson-headlined ownership group, the Dodgers have made moves valued upwards of a half billion dollars. They’ve absorbed huge contracts via trade, and doled out long term deals to expensive talent (and unknown commodities like Yasiel Puig, incidentally a pretty good call) alike. The Dodgers are clearly out to win now regardless of the cost, and this makes them very interesting trade partners.
LA also has a surplus of outfielders. Matt Kemp has struggled but is the team’s best player, a perennial MVP candidate when healthy. Andre Ethier recently signed a more-than-$80 million extension, making him tough to deal (especially since he hasn’t played well enough to earn any trade value). Yasel Puig, the Cuban rookie sensation, is taking the MLB by storm. He is putting up months only seen from the likes of Joe Dimaggio, and has just made the All-Star Final Vote despite having played in only 30 games.
With Kemp in center and Puig and Ethier firmly ensconced at the corners, the odd man out at Chavez Ravine is Carl Crawford. Crawford is an All-Star outfielder when healthy and has shown flashes of excellence this season with the Dodgers. Of course, he’s comming off the DL, but when healthy, he’s a potential game changer.
But Crawford is owed a boatload of money. He is under contract for about $20 mil a season until 2017 which would normally make him untradeable given his injuries and recently inconsistent track record, but, since we’re talking about the Dodgers here, all bets are off. LA could be more than willing to eat half of Crawford’s remaining salary in a trade, reducing him to a $10 million a year player for who ever gets him.
Coincidentally, the Pittsburgh Pirates, owners of the National League’s best record and the MLB’s second best record, are in dire need of a corner outfielder. At $10 million a season, Crawford might just fit into their budget. While it’s true that Pittsburgh is small market team with a small payroll, they aren’t that small. This season, the Pirates have a nearly $80 million payroll, good for 19th in baseball. If they add $10 mill, they’d still have a payroll comparable to the Baltimore Orioles, a sacrifice that they most certainly can make, especially considering they have their best shot at winning 82 games for the first time in 20 seasons and need to take advantage of the momentum they’ve built for themselves in terms of fan support and marketing.
Payroll aside for the moment, Crawford makes a ton of sense for the Pirates. Pittsburgh is currently 53-32, 1.5 games ahead of the Cardinals in the NL Central. They are the very definition of contenders and could use any sort of lift they can get in the stretch run. Right field is a particular area of need at PNC Park. As of the start of July, the .656 OPS the Pirates have gotten from their right fielders is good for last in senior circuit. If this team is going to make some noise come September and October, they need at the very least a lot more production out of the position that many teams’ best and most productive offensive players play.
Crawford has been hurt quite a bit over the last few years and is in fact coming off an injury now. However, he appears healthy and is playing well. He made a diving catch last night and is hitting .296 in his first season in the National League. His OPS is currently .818, almost 200 points higher than the Pirates current outfielders.
Immediately, Crawford would add serious length to the Pirates lineup. His would be the second highest average on the team, after only Andrew McCutchen. He could hit at the top of the order and move Neil Walker into the 6 or 7 spot, or he could even hit 4th or 5th and serve as some left handed protection for McCutchen.
Adding Crawford to an outfield of Startling Marte and Andrew McCutchen is almost unfair defensively, and would immediately create one of the most dynamic threesomes in baseball. All are fast and great defensively. All could serviceably play any outfield postion (though McCutchen is without a doubt the CF). With those three guys, the Pirates would have their three best players patrolling the outfield and would scarcely surrender any outfield hits. They would be shirking the traditional big, slow, power hitting corner outfield model in favor of speed and flexibility, and instead of clashing with what the Pirates have going offensively, Crawford could supplement it. Crawford would be a veteran leader, and along with former Yankees Russel Martin and AJ Burnett, could provide the guidance necessary for a playoff run.
At $10 million a season, this is doable for Pittsburgh. On the one hand, they could afford to hold on to Crawford for the duration of his contract if they wanted to. If they felt he was a good fit and was playing well and staying healthy, he could be a big piece for them moving forward and could solidify a great outfield for the next few seasons. Best case, they get a player who is actually worth close to $20 million a season for half the cost. On the other hand, if they are only on the hook for $10 mill a year for Crawford, he’d be an easy piece to move this winter or next season. If Pittsburgh agrees to pay just a couple million of the portion they owe him, Crawford could be a really cheap, good option for some other team and net the Bucs a pretty good prospect haul. At that point, Crawford would be getting his salary from three teams, of course, and would probably be featured in an OTBB Stat of the Day.
The bottom line is this: The Dodgers have 4 outfielders that need to start, either because of PR pressure, past performance, or salary obligations. Obviously, that doesn’t work. The most obvious choice for Ned Coletti to move is Carl Crawford, and even if the Dodgers had to pay half his remaining salary, it would free up more than $40 million for them. Crawford would be an excellent fit as a Pittsburgh Pirate, and if LA agreed to pay a significant portion of his salary, would be a very real possibility on the payroll front.
Make this trade happen, Dodgers and Pirates! It would help both of you and make a ton of financial sense.
-Max Frankel
Stat of the Day: The Detroit Tigers are the only team with four players hitting over .300
