Here's a good one courtesy of FOX Sports

by arkansasraysfan on Jul 23, 2008 1:13 AM EDT

Rays

Left fielder Carl Crawford this season is "hitting" .235 AVG/.272 OBP/.328 SLG against left-handed pitching, which simply won't do. So the Rays badly need a right-handed platoon partner for Crawford. Fortunately for them, it's not hard to find corner outfielders who crush lefties, and they've got plenty of minor-league depth from which to deal.

So now we need to platoon Crawford instead of RF??? WTF?? Guy has a "bad" first half and we need to find someone else.....His first half wasn't that bad anyway, just not what we're used to from him. What the hell is this guy on???

0 recs | Comment 32 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

His first half was awful.

He’s been well below the average production for a left fielder this season. His GPA is .235, league average is .260.

by R.J. Anderson on Jul 23, 2008 1:19 AM EDT 0 recs

Correction, this year league average has been .251

LF average is .262. So Carl is about .027 points lower

PA1.356(GPA^1.77).is how we get runs from GPA so using the average LF and Carl’s PAs (414) we get these run totals:
League average LF: 52
Carl Crawford: 43

Carl is about nine runs below the average left fielder at the plate thus far.

by R.J. Anderson on Jul 23, 2008 1:26 AM EDT up 0 recs

Or almost a whole win.

by R.J. Anderson on Jul 23, 2008 1:27 AM EDT up 0 recs

Damn..didn't realize that bad....

by arkansasraysfan on Jul 23, 2008 1:35 AM EDT up 0 recs

Also that should be PA multiplied by 1.356

Apparently asterisks still make things bold.

by R.J. Anderson on Jul 23, 2008 10:45 AM EDT up 0 recs

Crawford has a lifetime .311 OBP against lefties

Maybe he was high on common sense

by GomesSweetGomes on Jul 23, 2008 1:22 AM EDT 0 recs

You both think we should do it then???

Should the opportunity arise…Then we may as well trade HIM because if you think he wines now..try platooning him…

by arkansasraysfan on Jul 23, 2008 1:34 AM EDT 0 recs

Well, in fairness

A lot of his whining has been of the ‘I need a day off’ variety. Rosters can’t expand soon enough for me.

by GomesSweetGomes on Jul 23, 2008 1:37 AM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah he came back on fire after that suspension

Maybe he should get involved in some more fights..lol

by arkansasraysfan on Jul 23, 2008 1:39 AM EDT up 0 recs

RJ....What do you think we could get for Crawford

Does he have any kind of no trade clause???

by arkansasraysfan on Jul 23, 2008 1:37 AM EDT 0 recs

Don't trade Crawford

He’s still just 26 years old and has a sub .700 OPS, after posting 3 years of .800 or better. We would be selling very low.

That said, I’m not sure Crawford’s skill set fits well at the top of our lineup, and I wouldn’t mind trading him in the future, but at this point we have no viable replacement and his value is way off.

by raysrule07 on Jul 23, 2008 10:28 AM EDT up 0 recs

Given their willingness to trade Delmon

I wouldn’t be surprised to see CC traded. Obviously not now but in the offseason. If the consistency of his shitty hitting has stemmed from a lack of cooperation with the coaching staff, then I could really see him being shipped off.

I mean, when you have a guy who complains about playing on turf, about hitting anything but 2nd, and about playing anything but LF and can’t hit for shit anymore due to a very obvious and fixable problem, there’s really not a whole lot else you can do.

by Vin on Jul 23, 2008 10:49 AM EDT up 0 recs

Trading CC would be a similar PR move

As the Bucs trading Lynch. People that are casual fans would be up in arms.

by td32 on Jul 23, 2008 12:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

nice analogy

except Lynch was coming off a bad neck injury and no one knows what is wrong with CC outside of continued poor discipline and what is portrayed as pouting/whining. Half a decade of constant improvement far outweighs one bad season to me.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.

by Sandy Kazmir on Jul 23, 2008 12:21 PM EDT up 0 recs

He does all the little things wrong too

Doesn’t work the count, doesn’t walk, doesn’t bunt, bad baserunner, bad situational knowledge, can only play LF.

by Sveet on Jul 23, 2008 10:32 AM EDT 0 recs

Also known as bad fundamentals

TAMPA BAY RAYS: 2008 CITRUS SERIES CHAMPIONS

by JMB on Jul 23, 2008 12:21 PM EDT up 0 recs

he's a good fielder, though, about a win above average over a full season

and his arm is only a run or two worse than average, surprisingly:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/stats/players/index.php?lastName=crawford

my blog

by Sky Kalkman on Jul 23, 2008 11:20 AM EDT 0 recs

Good D, no hitting LF'ers are in high demand, haha

by td32 on Jul 23, 2008 12:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

If Joe is too afriad to move him down in the order because of whatever (attitude, whine)

any thoughts of him completely taking him out of the line-up is just a pipe dream.

by Dbullsfan on Jul 23, 2008 1:40 PM EDT 0 recs

I don't know what to think...

Obviously I have no idea what these guys are thinking but I don’t understand several things. Seems like Upton has lost the ability to hustle and all Crawford wants to do is think of himself. We don’t need guys that aren’t team players. If they can’t get their sh_t together MAYBE we should cosider shipping both their asses out of here while they still have some value. Crawfords skills seem to be diminished, whether it be conditioning, lack of effort/cooperation or just plain laziness and I feel that maybe Upton’s shoulder is bothering him and he isn’t saying anything

by arkansasraysfan on Jul 23, 2008 4:50 PM EDT 0 recs

Why lump in Upton with Crawford?

One is a high OBP guy who has shown power to all fields (though not this year). The other is hacktastic and only has pull power. One has endured years of being thrown position to position without a great deal of complaint, and even claimed the coach was making the right decision when moving him down in the order. The other pouted when he was recently forced to move to CF, and frequently tells the press what lineup position he feels he belongs in.

I’m starting to come to the conclusion that people treat them as one in the same just because they are both young successful, er, outfielders.

by GomesSweetGomes on Jul 23, 2008 5:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

At the end of this year...

Crawford will have two more years of options. The Rays should be able to get a nice return, most likely players under team control for much longer at a much cheaper rate. Crawford is a player whose reputation is greater than performance and that’s the perfect type of player to trade.

Trade Crawford and sign Burrell.

by tallyray on Jul 23, 2008 6:01 PM EDT 0 recs

Burrell's two wins worse than Crawford in the field

Ok, maybe 1.5 wins.

my blog

by Sky Kalkman on Jul 23, 2008 7:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

his 1st half was not awful

I think it is assanine to assume their is any reliable formula for determining how valuable a player is to your team, by comparing him to “the average” player from his position. Too many aspects that can’t be accounted for. I think this type of “evidence” is a joke

That being said, this thread was not about how well Crawford has or hasnt played this year, but leave it to rj to pinpoint and attack the offhand comment the guy made

Do you agree Crawford should be platooned? Or that his splits vs lefties this season should be any reason to go overboard and bench an athlete like that permanantly against lefties? Especially when all of US Rays fans know something that this Fox Sports writer probably didnt take the time to research, which is that Crawford for his career hits lefties as good as he hits righties

This is the most dissapointing year of Crawfords career, but his value to the team is understated by the SABR geek squad. Id say if not for nagging leg injuries, Crawford wouldve ended the year with 180 hits, 60 SBs, 90 RBI and 110 runs scored and countless diving catches, countless situations in games where he makes defenses press, he defelcts a pitchers attention off of the hitter, and in many ways makes opposing teams do things they dont normally do

Dissapointing year? Without a doubt

Awful year? LOL, and you call yourself a Rays fan

by blazinrayz on Jul 23, 2008 7:17 PM EDT 0 recs

That's just not true

“Especially when all of US Rays fans know something that this Fox Sports writer probably didnt take the time to research, which is that Crawford for his career hits lefties as good as he hits righties”

For His CAREER

VERSUS RHP
2856 AB’s 807 Hits, 116 2B, 60 3B, 57 HR, 298 RBI, .302 BA, .336 OBP, .455 SLG, .791 OPS

VERSUS LHP
1061 AB’s 288 Hits, 38 2B, 19 3B, 13 HR, 127 RBI, .271 BA, .312 OBP, .380 SLG, .692 OPS

And I am a Rays fan, and would gladly put my fandom credentials against yours or anyone else on this site. But I’m more a fan of the TEAM than any one individual player. If sitting Crawford against left handed starters helps the team, I’m all for it.

by GomesSweetGomes on Jul 23, 2008 7:38 PM EDT up 0 recs

It's like he didn't even take the time to research.

by R.J. Anderson on Jul 23, 2008 7:47 PM EDT up 0 recs

This is the most dissapointing year of Crawfords career, but his value to the team is understated by the SABR geek squad. Id say if not for nagging leg injuries, Crawford wouldve ended the year with 180 hits, 60 SBs, 90 RBI and 110 runs scored and countle

Also he will swing at every first pitch, AND YOU WILL LOVE IT.

"I'm like a retarded Adam Dunn mixed with Jason Bartlett" - R.J. Anderson

by P Brady on Jul 23, 2008 7:48 PM EDT up 0 recs

Where is this Geek Squad?

And why am I not a part of it?

by Peter Bendix on Jul 24, 2008 10:38 AM EDT up 0 recs

Also: he probably would've ended up with 82-85 RBI, not 90. And 106 runs scored.

I can make up team-dependent numbers too!

by Peter Bendix on Jul 24, 2008 10:38 AM EDT up 0 recs

And a nifty .680 out percentage.

Mmm…he tastes like top of the lineup material!

by R.J. Anderson on Jul 24, 2008 1:27 PM EDT up 0 recs

Awful year? LOL, and you call yourself a Rays fan

LOL I don’t call myself, I am. Being a below average player this season = awful year for someone who has been above average his entire career.

by R.J. Anderson on Jul 23, 2008 7:45 PM EDT up 0 recs

If he had more plate discipline it would be different..

I think he has the potential to be something really special but is this a sign of what we can expect from him..At his age and with the # of games he’s played already he is a veteran player and should be acting more like it. He should be someone who leads by example..not whines when they ask him to do something for the good of the team. I have always been a HUGE CC fan but I am more disappointed in his attitude than his performance right now.

by arkansasraysfan on Jul 24, 2008 7:47 PM EDT 0 recs