Despite choosing to leave Oakland for Cleveland, Coco Crisp still beloved by A’s fans

Coco Crisp: Still the epitome of loyalty and leadership for A’s fans

It’s going to be hard for Oakland Athletics’ fan to say goodbye to Coco Crisp. His trade to the Cleveland Indians was finalized Wednesday, just in time to make sure that Crisp would be eligible for the Indians’ postseason roster.

Seven years is also half Crisp’s career and until recently he stood apart from other players because he always talked about how he wanted to stay in Oakland. It’s something that you don’t hear a lot of from the players. The stadium is old, the payroll is low and the A’s are either really good or really bad. They’re either a shoe-in for the postseason or last in the American League West.

A fan-favorite, Crisp was also the longest tenured member of the A’s. Crisp played seven seasons with the Athletics, which is considered a VERY long time in Oakland, a place where the filthy-rich ownership refuses to put money into the team’s payroll to keep players long-term. Therefore the majority of players are traded for prospects just prior to becoming free agents.

Still when his contract was up after the 2013 season, Crisp signed a two-year contract extension with the team. The contract included a $13 million vesting option for a third year based on his number of games played in 2015-16. When he signed that extension he had this to say,

“This is the place I wanted to be. This is home for me. So I’m happy with coming back more than just this year.”

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