The Oakland Athletics had already exercised their $7.5 million option on CF Coco Crisp, 34, earlier this winter. Crisp was scheduled to become a free-agent next off season. As it seems, much to the delight of A's fans everywhere, Crisp will be wearing an Oakland uniform for at least the next two years.
The news was announced earlier this morning by the team and the contract details came through The San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser. According to Slusser the deal is worth $22.75 million with a club option for 2017 based on plate appearances.
Crisp is coming off a career year in 2013. In 131 games with the Athletics he batted .261 with 22 doubles, a career-high 22 home runs, 21 stolen bases and 61 walks (compared to just 66 strike outs). He's been a stellar lead-off man for the Athletics and have great defensive capabilities.
As the news was posted on Facebook this morning the reaction to the news from A's fans sounded like this,
And my personal reaction was "HELL F*CKING YEAH" ... coming from me that is shocking I know! LOL!Larry Medina: Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
Randy T. Montgomery Jr.: #faithinbeane
Randy Smith: Hell ya love Coco!
Brad Washburn: I am HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!! I had to play the Bernie Lean song! Coco is the heart of this team!
So Crisp definitely will be welcomed back with open arms by his fans. He has been quite a leader, cheerleader and creative comedian for the Athletics in recent years. He was the creator of the "Bernie Lean" craze of 2012 that took over Northern California and is seen by many as the heart and soul of the team.
This is not just coming from the fans. Before last fall's playoffs Manager Bob Melvin said,
"I think everybody feeds off of Coco here, not necessarily just experience, just how good he is. I've said often when we're playing well, he's playing well. He sets the tone for us, and you've seen he's taken his game to a whole new level this year as far as the power dynamic goes."
Even former Detroit Tigers manager, Jim Leyland, said multiple times last season that the key to defeating the A's was containing Crisp. Crisp has a career .278 batting average in 30 post season games with both Boston and Oakland.
Providing the A's with such team leadership and now power hitting along with defense, it is no wonder the Athletics want to keep him around for a while.
For More on the Latest News Around the League visit MLB Nation
I was so happy to hear this! Not just he is a great player, but I feel for the A's to keep up the way they have been playing they need players like Coco. He keeps the fans and players motivated!
ReplyDelete