If it’s possible to feel bad for a player and want him gone, then that’s exactly how I feel about now, almost, for former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford.
Finally, after a season-and-a-half of excruciating speculation, Crawford has lost his battle against the Dodgers’ glut of outfield depth. The club designated him for assignment on Sunday, and the 34 year old is a virtual lock to go unclaimed on waivers.
It’s also unlikely the Dodgers will be able to trade Crawford even if they foot the bill for most of his remaining salary. So, how will he be remembered?
For starters, he’ll be remembered as a major piece in one of the franchise’s biggest trades of all time. In August 2012, the Dodgers struck a deal with the Boston Red Sox that netted them Adrian Gonzalez, Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto in exchange for a pair of pitching prospects that haven’t panned out.
It was a move that was an injection of life into a franchise desperate for hope. Of course, the price of that hope was over $250 million in salary — much of which was owed to Crawford (he will have made over $100 million in the five years with Los Angeles).
While many will remember Crawford as the under-performing player with a bloated contract, it must be pointed out that he slashed an impressive .307/.356/.495 with 19 home runs and 47 stolen bases heading into free agency.
Of course, that was in 2010 — a full seven seasons before he’ll stop making $20-plus million a year. But even in Los Angeles, it wasn’t all bad with Crawford.
CONTINUE READING: Crawford’s time with Dodgers included some positives
In his first two full seasons with the Dodgers, Crawford posted 5.4 WAR despite missing more than 100 games. In the 2013 postseason, in fact, he was the best hitter the team had — reaching base in all 10 games and posting an on-base plus slugging percentage of almost 1.000.
Included in his 13 hits were four home runs — two of which came in a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series. The game is more famous for Juan Uribe’s go-ahead home run in the eighth inning.
Off the field, there isn’t anything negative to say about Crawford. Despite the slumps and the speculation, he never rocked the boat. The veteran that he is, he always seemed to be a positive, calming force in a clubhouse already dealing with plenty.
But alas, despite a couple decent seasons and a good stretch in the postseason, the Crawford Era reached the beginning of the end last spring. Crawford saw his batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage all drop by around 30 points in 2015.
In addition, both his home run and stolen base totals were cut in half. Add into the equation the fact that his defense was … “weak,” and it was clear that Crawford’s days were numbered. The slump was only magnified by the fact that the Dodgers had a surplus of outfielders.
Aside from Andre Ethier and Yasiel Puig, the likes of Joc Pederson and Scott Schebler were in the pipeline, Scott Van Slyke was quietly producing in a reserve role, Kiké Hernandez was chomping at the bit, and Alex Guerrero was a name with cache at one point.
Basically, the Dodgers didn’t have room for an aging outfielder with a .304 on-base percentage, no power and below-average defense. The problem was, cutting someone due $20 million a year through 2017 wasn’t going to be easy.
And so, Crawford remained — until this week. After what was probably a long series of conversations, the Dodgers finally cut the cord.
After 320 games spread out over parts of four seasons, Carl Crawford’s time in Dodger blue is over with — and, unfortunately, it wasn’t a day too soon.