Frustrated Coco

Ladies and gentlemen, Spring Training is not even officially one month old and Mr. Crisp has begun the campaign to be jettisoned from the Land of the Red Sox.

He’s been vocal about the fact that he’s had to compete. I see it this way:

Last year, Coco had a few injuries to endure throughout the regular season and, even though he played through them, his body just couldn’t take much more punishment while being able to focus on the offensive side of his game. The Sox, actually, were incredibly lucky to have someone like Ellsbury ready to go. Had he not been as well-prepared, the Sox would have had a slightly harder time winning seven straight games.

This year, Coco is in the fight for his life to save (or get back, really) his job and keep his value at a high level.

I’m still a big fan of both potential center fielders.  I believe Coco is a brilliant defender who will be able to play at his level of defense for the next five years before he’s so incredibly banged up as to render him almost useless in any hard activity.

I believe Ellsbury is a potential superstar who could use his good looks and his super agent to rise to the levels only enjoyed by less than 1%.

I also believe there is no guarantee with either option. You see, even though Coco is a great defensive player with a few years under his cap, he came into the organization with the great hope of the replacement for a goofy, sometimes admittedly idiotic leadoff hitter.

There will be a great amount of discussion in the next few weeks. Red Sox Nation seems to wish this were easier, but also seem to want nothing less than this whole mess to disappear and Ellsbury to take over.

Regardless, this will be an interesting test.