Coco Traded?

A sports radio station in Kansas City has reported the Red Sox have traded center fielder Coco Crisp to the Royals in exchange for 27-year-old pitcher Ramon Ramirez. WHB 810 co-owner and former Royals outfielder Brian McRae first reported the trade. Recently hired Royals senior advisor Mike Arbuckle refused to confirm the report on the air during an interview. If the deal does go down, the Red Sox are losing a very solid player who provided them great depth the last two seasons but would be adding a potentially very good arm for their bullpen. For the Royals in 2008, Ramirez tossed 71.2 innings in 71 appearances. He struck out 70, walked 31, and posted an ERA of 2.64 and a WHIP of 1.23. He throws in the mid-90s and is reported to have a good curveball and split-fingered fastball. Ramirez would give the Red Sox depth in the bullpen, possibly allowing them to put Justin Masterson back into the starting rotation in 2009. Losing Crisp would force Theo Epstein to find a fourth outfielder. *** UPDATE *** This trade has been finalized. Coco Crisp is now with the Royals. Thanks for the great defense and for that great at-bat in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the ALCS -- if the Red Sox had gone on to defeat the Rays and win the World Series, that at-bat would have joined Dave Roberts' steal against the Yankees, Josh Beckett's performance in Game 5 against the Indians, and any number of David Ortiz' hits as great Red Sox postseason moments.