:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45925654/usa-today-8435687.0.jpg)
The Red Sox and Giants have discussed a trade that would send Allen Craig to San Francisco, but according to Peter Gammons, the Red Sox are "not interested in selling low," and the Giants may have called off their search:
Despite injuries, Giants not actively pursuing OF. If theydo, they want power. Inquired on Allen Craig,but Sox not interested in selling low
— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) March 17, 2015
Allen Craig has been in a strange baseball limbo for about a year now. Once one of the most feared hitters on a World Series contender, injury left him entirely unproductive in 2014, with seemingly nobody certain which way he'll trend in 2015. If he's healthy, Craig could be one of Boston's best bats. If he's not, or his production doesn't recover with his health, he's a complete waste of a roster space. A writer better versed in physics might even make a Schrodinger reference.
That leaves Craig stuck on a team that doesn't really have a place for him right now, but is all-too-aware of how perfect a fit he might be in a year's time. That leaves him stuck in a market which is extremely interested in his promise, but not willing to pay any price based on it.
Must Reads
Must Reads
The hope for the Red Sox was that someone would get desperate after a spring injury and make a difficult decision easy by offering something of value for Craig. The Giants seemed their best opportunity in the wake of Hunter Pence's broken arm, and the possibility still exists something gets done there. Calling and not completing a deal is still better than no call at all, and if Craig impresses in what's left of spring training (a solo shot in Tuesday's game against the Braves left him with a solid .804 OPS), it's possible San Francisco decides to pull that trigger after all.
Until then, though, all Craig can do is keep plugging away in spring. The Red Sox need a left-handed bench bat, not a right-handed one, but this is an organization that has proven time and again how loathe they are to let talent go at a discount. And if Craig is a burden on the roster for a month or two while the team gets a handle on whether or not he's got his swing back, that could be a small price to pay for a big return down the line.