Posted by David Pevear, Sun Staff

Coco Crisp has sounded angry this winter. Jacoby Ellsbury had been slumping, though granted, Boston's Wonder Boy was slumping in meaningless exhibition games. Ellsbury was 3-for-5 with 2 RBI on Saturday to raise his spring average to .190. Still, what should we make of the Red Sox's center-field situation? Is it an ideal competition – and where there is competition, there is strength? The champs have a dynamic prospect backed up by a spectacular defensive player. That sounds ideal.

But will Crisp’s simmering dissatisfaction turn an ideal situation into a chemistry problem that cannot be soothed with John Henry's checkbook? There is a strong feeling that Crisp will be traded sometime soon. Yet the more Crisp talks about soldiering on through injuries last year, the more brittle he sounds. This is not helping his trade value.

The center-field job is thought to belong to Ellsbury. The Ellsbury of last September and October sure looked ready be the everyday center fielder. He was a dynamic force. The Ellsbury of this March, though, is 15 pounds heavier from an off-season training regimen designed to keep him strong over the long haul. Hopefully next year at this time we are not hearing that Ellsbury needed to drop those 15 pounds because they slowed him down in ’08.