Hotstove Report: better than it looked on the bottom line

For all those fellow friends of the feather out there, you may have come across the pending trade between the Boston Red Sox and our beloved Cleveland Indians Sunday night during the NFL playoff wrap-up on ESPN. If you are at all like me, you were probably shocked and offended at the idea of the Tribe moving our star outfielder Coco Crisp for a prospect and a not-so-stellar relief pitcher. Then I looked at it a little closer, and I think I can be okay with this. Here's why:

First of all, they agreed in principal, but it's not final. The trade will be completed on the condition that the Indians are able to sign another outfielder, likely either the Phillies' Jason Michaels or free-agent Jeff DaVanon. I would prefer Michaels, who hit .304 with a .399 OBP in just 105 games last season.

As for Coco Crisp, he is a very, very good defensive player. He can play all three outfield positions and can hit 2, 8, or 9 in the batting order. He's a switch hitter that hits for a .300 average and added 16 homers, 42 doubles, 69 RBI and 86 runs scored. On closer examination, he's only a .345 OBP guy, which means he drew just 44 walks on the season against 81 strikeouts. Going further, he hit just .252 against lefties, which is not good for a switch hitter and potential lead-off man.

The first player we would receive back from Boston is Andy Marte, who just happens to be one of the top hitting prospects in the game. "While being among the youngest players in each league he has appeared, Marte has averaged .280, 32 doubles and 20 homers over four full seasons in the minors. The 22-year-old hit .275 with 20 homers and 74 RBI in 109 games at Triple-A Richmond of the International League last season." Not bad.

We would also get Guillermo Moto, a reliable power pitcher that has a career 3.61 ERA in seven seasons at the major league level.

The Indians seem to, once again, be searching for a cheaper solution as Coco Crisp is in the final year of his contract with the team. He'll make under $400,000 this year, but will likely command much more on the free agent market after a couple of very productive years in Cleveland. Rather than lose him when his contract is up, they seem to be taking the precaution that they didn't take when losing the likes of Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome. Not that Crisp is even in their leagues as far as hitting and productivity goes, but you'd rather get something for him than the big fat nothing they got with those players, right?

Thought so.