Allen Craig To Be Traded Again?

Nothing is set in stone, but former St. Louis Cardinal Allen Craig could be on the move again.

Apparently, the Boston Red Sox have received several calls about Craig this offseason.

According to Aaron Gleeman of HardballTalk.com:

"… [T]he whole idea in acquiring Craig from the Cardinals in the John Lackey deal was to buy low on a struggling former impact hitter, so trading him now would be selling low. And perhaps even lower, since Craig hit .128 in 29 games for Boston following the trade.Craig is owed $26.5 million for the next three seasons, but hasn’t been the same since breaking his foot in late 2013. Prior to that injury he hit .312 with an .863 OPS in 328 games for St. Louis from 2011-2013, but this year he was one of the worst hitters in baseball."

Jeez. That’s awful. And he’s owed a lot of money. I’d venture to say a lot of those “interested” teams are interested to know what’s going on with Craig.

This leaves me with a lot of questions about Allen Craig… and the St. Louis Cardinals.

I applaud the Cardinals for trading for a veteran pitcher. Especially since we’re getting him for at least another season. That all it took to get that veteran in John Lackey, was a mediocre pitcher in Joe Kelly and a rapidly declining Allen Craig? Wow.

It was like both teams just wanted to get rid of pieces. The Red Sox wanted to get rid of Lackey for a couple of people they saw as young guys who are coming off injuries and need a change in scenery. The Cardinals wanted to get rid of Joe Kelly, who was never consistent, and Allen Craig, a former star whose injured foot has severely hampered him, for a proven veteran pitcher.

About that foot though …

Has Craig not been honest about this all along? Have the Cardinals not been honest with what they have known the entire time? Was it worse and he wouldn’t admit it to the Cardinals and the Cardinals were tired of him lying about it? Did the Cardinals lie to the Red Sox? What was really going on with Allen Craig, his foot and the St. Louis Cardinals?

Lots of questions and we’ll likely never know … unless this situation just gets worse and someone does a tell all or some angered Red Sox reporter settles down to really investigate things.

Like many of you, I had high hopes for Allen Craig. I expected he would be with the team for a while. Have a lot of great moments. But with the emergence of Oscar Taveras and Matt Adams, it wasn’t going to be a career as a starter for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was awfully expensive for a back up.

It may have worked out well for the Cardinals in the long run. Even considering Oscar Taveras’ death, the trade for Jason Heyward and the acquisition of Mark Reynolds.

But what about Allen Craig?

Is he ever going to be comfortable as a player again? Is he going to be worth the money he’s owed over the next few seasons?

Probably not. And that’s sad.