Christina Kahrl, MLB Staff Writer 9y

Athletics moving Coco Crisp to left field

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The always busy Oakland Athletics make moves all the time. But on Wednesday they made a move that didn’t involve a transaction. It involved team star Coco Crisp, as they move him from center field to left.

As reported this morning by Susan Slusser from A’s camp in Mesa, the team announced they’ll be moving Crisp. Manager Bob Melvin cited Crisp’s season-long problems with a neck injury last season, which he exacerbated down the stretch when he crashed into an outfield wall at the end of August. Crisp also commented that the injury affected his play, saying, “I tried to play it safe, and I hated doing it.”

The move seems to answer questions over whether the A’s were going to eventually go out and get a corner outfielder who would give them the kind of offensive production they were missing after trading Yoenis Cespedes to the Red Sox last summer and then Brandon Moss to the Indians over the winter. That inaction now has an explanation: Their new left fielder was their old center fielder, making room for a platoon of Sam Fuld and Craig Gentry in center.

As Slusser reports, Crisp isn’t enthusiastic about the change. But the point of the move isn’t about Crisp’s feelings, it’s about fielding a better defense and keeping Crisp healthy. In the field, there isn’t much argument about the benefits, assuming that the A’s weren’t likely to get his former value in the field in 2015 or 2016, in his age-35 and age-36 seasons. Per Baseball-Reference.com, his Defensive Fielding Run totals the last four seasons moved from 1 to 0 to 6 to minus-17. Fuld accrued 8 DRS in center part-time play between Minnesota and Oakland, and Gentry another 5.

Crisp’s arm has also long been a problem; he didn’t log a single assist last season, and Baseball Info Solutions notes that baserunners took an extra base on him 66 percent of the time last year. That should be less of a factor now that he’ll be manning left, but how good (or bad) he’ll be in the corner remains to be seen -- he hasn’t logged a meaningful amount of time there since he was with the Indians a decade ago. Paradoxically, making plays around the wall was one of the few areas where Crisp made a positive difference in center field last year. Per BIS, he was plus-3 on balls hit deep. Most of the damage done was on balls hit shallow or medium distances.

If it keeps Crisp healthy, that’s great for him of course, as well as for everyone who loves watching him play. And it protects the A’s $22 million committed over the next two seasons, while also potentially making it more like his $13 million option for 2017 vests through playing time.

But there is still the question of whether or not this makes Crisp that much better, in the field or at the plate. Setting aside how good or bad he might be in left field -- if he was being careful in center to avoid injury last year, and that showed up in the stats, he may be that guy in left field as well. More significantly is what having Crisp in left means for the offense. Last year, a .722 OPS was average production from AL left fielders, and the A’s got .757 from theirs. Crisp delivered a .699 OPS last year. Dan Szymborski of ESPN Insider projects him via ZiPS to get back up to .717, still well below his .737 career clip, and just below average for an AL left fielder.

Then there’s the problem this solution represents in the other slot in the lineup affected, center field. The A’s will also be getting below-average offense from their potential platoon in center. ZiPS projects Fuld for a .634 OPS, Gentry for a .638. Even if you rely on their career platoon splits reasonably assuming that Melvin will manage to advantage and play them to best effect, you’re looking at a .655 OPS from Fuld, .645 from Gentry -- way below the AL average of .712 from center fielders, and a lot of runs to give up on offense.

That said, the move optimizes what the A’s can get from what they’ve got. If they’re committed to playing Fuld and Gentry, they’re better off with them in center, where their virtues in the field will pay off. But to buy that boost on D, it potentially closes the door on their adding a bat to man left. This switch shuffles their problems, and when (or if, to be charitable) Fuld and Gentry don’t hit, it’s going to be a lot harder to find a center fielder who can hit to shore up a lineup with more than its share of question marks.

Christina Kahrl writes about MLB for ESPN. You can follow her on Twitter.

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