Allen Craig Will Look To Change Of Scenery To Rejuvenate Career
Allen Craig is one of more than a dozen players who changed places on Thursday’s Major League Baseball trade deadline day. When the smoke clears from the numerous trades, Allen Craig might be the player who benefits the most from his change of scenery.
Craig had been the starting right fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals since 2011, and over the last few years he had become one of the most dependable bats on the roster. In 2012, Allen seemed to be coming into his own as one of the better overall players in the NL Central after hitting.307 and blasting 22 home runs while tallying nearly 100 RBI.
In 2013, Allen Craig saw his power numbers drop off, but his average rose to.315 and he managed to again get close to 100 RBI. What exactly has happened to Craig in 2014 clearly had the Cardinals scratching their head.
In the end, Allen’s precipitous drop-off (.237, 7 homers, 44 RBI so far) made him expendable and he was shipped off, along with pitcher Joe Kelly, to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for starting pitcher John Lackey.
The trade was the second in recent days in order to add depth and upgrade talent to the team’s rotation. It was also the second starting pitcher the Red Sox dealt on Thursday. The bigger trade in Boston was Jon Lester, who was shipped off for another outfielder in Yoenis Cespedes.
While MLB.com is reporting that Kelly will move right into the rotation, it doesn’t appear that Allen Craig has the same kind of guarantee. It seems likely that Craig will have every opportunity to prove his worth.
One of the reasons the Red Sox traded for Allen was because he will remain under team control through the 2018 season and won’t be arbitration eligible until after the 2016 season.
Perhaps once piece of good news for the new right fielder, is that Boston is clearly looking to get younger in a number of different ways. There isn’t much of a veteran presence in the rotation at this point.
Craig certainly fits the mold of a youth movement and if he can start to put up the kinds of numbers he saw at the beginning of his career for the Cardinals, he could become a staple for the Red Sox outfield.
Allen will likely start off as a bench player for the team this season, but the outfield is hardly settled moving into next season. If he can use the end of the 2014 season as a kind of tryout, Allen Craig could find renewed success in Fenway Park.
