What's The Plan Exactly?

Boston have once again hit the headlines as they have acquired Coco Crisp (love that name) to replace Damon in centrefield and in the lead-off spot. They also recieved David Riske and Josh Bard in the deal.

Now Crisp and Riske are good players and they fill holes that needed addressing (still questions at short, first and the bullpen but its a start) but are those players worth letting go of Kelly Shoppach, the Sox top catching prospect, and Andy Marte, one of the highest rated prospects in all of baseball? Also included was the enigmatic but definately talented Guillermo Mota but that might come down to addition by subtraction as he has had one or two issues with his teams in the past.

To be fair Crisp's OBP over the last couple of years (.344 and .345) isn't far off Johnny Damon's career mark of .353 and at 26 he should be just coming into his prime. We could also go on about how significant an upgrade Boston get in terms of having someone who can actually throw the ball but we shouldn't really over-state Crisp's throwing ability.

David Riske could end up being a steal. At the moment he is likely to step in as one of the principle set-up men ahead of Keith Foulke but if he can't be effective coming back from a year marred by injury, Riske could concievably end up as the closer and we will have to wait and see how he'd respond to that.

Even if Crisp can get his OBP to the happy side of .350 and Riske turns into a 30 save closer (I did say "if") only time will tell if they were worth giving up Shoppach and Marte.

Shoppach has long been groomed as the heir apparent to Jason Varitek and has impressed many with his leadership qualities and recieving skills. Add to that some power potential and you basically have a Jason Varitek clone only without the switch hitting ability. Right now he could easily step into a reserve catcher role should be very useful taking some of the load off of Victor Martinez so they can keep his bat in the line-up more frequently.

Andy Marte could step in straight away and fill a gaping hole at third base where neither Aaron Boone or Casey Blake have provided a consistent presence in the line-up. Marte had 20 homers and 74 RBI as a 22 year old in AAA last season although his 24 game call up to Atlanta has lead some to wonder if he might still need another year in the minors.

Not only does Marte fill a need at third but experts believe he has the potential to be the middle of the order righty bat that could split Hafner and Martinez in the Indian line-up which would certainly help them bridge the gap to the White Sox in the Central.

So what is the plan for the Red Sox? They have sacrificed something for the future for what I can only guess is what they see as what they need now. But when a team like Boston, whose goal is always to win the World Series, thinks that way you have to ask the qusetion, is this a deal that will help them to achieve that?

I have a tough time seeing Coco Crisp and David Riske as being guys to lead you to the promised land. Only time will tell.