Carl Crawford Will Be 2012's Curtis Granderson

With all of the other drama surrounding the 2011 Boston Red Sox, it seems that the criticism of Carl Crawford has died down quite a bit. Rightfully so. Since the beginning of the 2011 season I maintained that Carl Crawford would most likely under-perform in Boston while adapting here. Sure enough, he did. Let's just get a couple of things out of the way before I make my case for the man - you cannot blame him for the contract he signed. It was the same deal with J.D. Drew - the man signed on for what was offered to him. However, Crawford, unlike Drew will have a tremendous career in Boston. Here is why: Carl Crawford is too good of a player NOT to do well here. Is he worth $142 million? Probably not. Is he a hell of a ballplayer and athlete? You bet he is.

I want to take a look back at another very similar player before we get into Carl Crawford. In 2010 the New York Yankees tossed a bunch of money at Granderson (5 years, $30 million, in that ballpark.) It is safe to say at this point that the Yankees got Granderson for a steal, considering the numbers he put up in 2011. However, they probably were not feeling that way after his 2010 campaign. The reason why nobody is talking about this obvious comparison is literally because of the dollars involved. I don't care about that. I care about production, so that is what I want to show my audience.

Curtis Granderson is 30 years old, same as Carl Crawford. Granderson came up with the Detroit Tigers in 2004 and 2005 sporadically, but had his first full season in 2006. While with the Tigers, in his four full seasons he averaged 104 runs, 163 hits, 30 doubles, 13 triples, 24 home runs, 70 RBI's, 17 stolen bases, a .272 batting average, a .347 on-base percentage, a .484 slugging percentage and and OPS of .831. Pretty solid numbers for you starting center fielder.

Carl Crawford came up with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2002 part time, and had his first full season in 2003. In his 8 seasons with the Rays before coming to Boston he averaged 93 runs, 177 hits, 26 doubles, 13 triples, 13 home runs, 70 RBI's, 49 stolen bases, a .298 batting average, a .339 on-base percentage, a .447 slugging percentage and an OPS of .786.

For both men something changed when they arrived at their new teams. Obviously, both were facing the tremendous pressure of playing in a major market. Curtis Granderson put up career low numbers in runs scored (76), hits (115), doubles (17), triples (7), batting average (.247) and on-base percentage (.324). Carl Crawford put up career lows in runs scored (65), triples (7), stolen bases (18), batting average (.255) and on-base percentage (.289). Could this be all related to major market pressure?

Nope.

One thing that has been glaringly overlooked in both instances is the fact that in his 4 years in Detroit, Curtis Granderson led off in 2006 139 times. In 2007 he led off 132 times. In 2008 he led off 124 times. Finally in 2009, he led off 130 times. In 2010 with the New York Yankees, Granderson hit 2nd 21 times, 3rd 22 times, 7th 63 times and 8th 32 times.

For Carl Crawford, in 2003 with the Rays he led off 112 times. In 2004 he led off 144 times. In 2005 he led off 78 times, batted 2nd 60 times. In 2006 he hit 2nd 86 times, 3rd 41 times. In 2007 he hit 2nd 61 times, 3rd 71 times. In an injury shortened 2008, he hit 2nd 83 times. In 2009, he hit 2nd 150 times. In 2010, Carl Crawford hit 2nd 100 times, 3rd 48 times. In his first season with the Boston Red Sox in 2011, Carl Crawford hit lead off 7 times, 2nd 10 times, 6th 47 times, 7th 34 times and 8th 27 times.

The problem facing these prolific players was not necessarily the pressure of playing in the major market. The problem was inconsistency in the batting order. In 2011, the New York Yankees finally found a home for Granderson in the lineup. He did a majority of his hitting from the 2 spot. As we all know, it brought forth a level of comfort that allowed for him to have an MVP caliber season, bringing about career highs in runs scored (136), home runs (41), RBI's (119), slugging percentage (.552) and OPS (.916).

What the Boston Red Sox need to do is put Carl Crawford in the 2 hole behind Jacoby Ellsbury and before Dustin Pedroia. Let that lineup live and watch Carl Crawford flourish in Boston. He may never live up to the contract he signed, but remember - that is not his fault. What he will do is give you a legitimate outfielder with speed on the bags and a great ability to score some runs.