For the first time in a long while (last year's search for a closer doesn't count), the Red Sox have a bona fide competition on their hands - if Crisp isn't traded, that is. With Ellsbury having the inside track after last October, plus the signing of Bobby Kielty, which seemed contingent on Crisp's exit, the Red Sox may enter the season with only one of the two center fielders on the roster.
Or they might enter it with both.
"I think it's a good situation for both of us," said Ellsbury, who came in early to spring training (Crisp had not arrived as of yesterday). "It pushed me that much harder in the offseason; I'm sure it did Coco as well. We have a good relationship and we'll make the best of the situation."
Ellsbury, though, was the one whose name came up in trade talks over the winter. When the Red Sox contemplated trading for Johan Santana, one of the packages offered to the Twins included the 24-year-old rookie. That prompted a massive response from the fans he had converted with his 33-game regular-season stint and his playoff heroics (.360 average, 7 for 16 in the World Series, plus that catch in left field).
He had already hit .353 in his brief tenure in the majors, making memories with his second-to-home dash on a passed ball. He brought excitement, the same excitement Crisp engendered in the beginning before it sputtered amid injuries and underperformance. After being traded from the Indians before the 2006 season, Crisp broke his left index finger on a slide in Baltimore in his second series with Boston. He was never the same, his batting average dipping from .300 in 2005 to .264 and .268 in Boston. He still had the defense and the speed, but so, too, does Ellsbury.
This is not the first time that Crisp has been involved in a battle with a younger player. Crisp was the center fielder in Cleveland when Grady Sizemore emerged, stealing in and sneaking off with his position. That time, Crisp was not forced into a seat on the bench; he shifted to left field.
