It was only a failed physical that kept the Cleveland Indians from making a steal of a deal. Truthfully, they should have pulled the trigger despite Guillermo Mota’s arm problems. Simply put, Mota paired with uber-prospect Andy Marte and Kelly Shoppach would have been a big win when they only had to give up Coco Crisp, David Riske and Josh Bard.

This isn’t to say I don’t think Crisp, in particular, is a very good player. Boston fans should be happy to see him on their team. Except if they had to give up Marte.

He and Marte were the keys to this potential deal, with Boston getting a decent centerfielder and Cleveland getting a future stud at third base. There’s a lot of debate on this prospective deal; both sets of fans seem split on it. But as much as I like Crisp, I can’t ignore the fact that Marte is a rare asset as a power-hitting third baseman who can hold his own on the field as well. Players like this don’t come around often, especially as young as Marte is, and clubs should only trade them in slam-dunk trades.

The Coco supporters out there will argue that he is worth it. A number of people have even compared him to a young Johnny Damon (weak arm and all). Heck, if he were a young Johnny, I’d say the deal might be worth it. But that’s a stretch, at best. The difference between Coco and Johnny is all about their approach at the plate. Johnny takes pitches and works the count, while Coco is known as a “free swinger.”

This can be a big difference, magnified even more for a potential leadoff batter. Damon keeps his strikeouts down and takes a decent amount of walks, which in turn helps his team more. Crisp just isn’t nearly as good.

Crisp is entering his fifth season in the majors, and his walks per strikeouts (BB/K) and walks per plate appearances (BB/PA) have remained fairly steady, currently standing at .52 and .065 in those two categories, respectively, for his career. Damon, on the other hand, had already started to improve in these categories at the same point in his career. To highlight this, he’s registered three separate seasons of averaging over one walk per strikeout, and has career marks of .85 BB/K and .087 BB/PA.

Now Crisp could theoretically improve these numbers and make a comparison to Damon more interesting. But it is difficult to learn more patience at the plate for somebody who is so aggressive naturally. Even if he doesn’t improve, he’s still a very good player with good speed and power. But that doesn’t mean he’s worth Marte, who has the potential to be a perennial All Star.

That last line may have a few people remarking that “potential” doesn’t mean much; too many prospects haven’t delivered in the big leagues, and Coco Crisp has already shown that he can. But Bill James has proven that minor league stats can be used to predict major league success, and Marte’s track record is worth the risk of catastrophic failure. I like Crisp, a lot. But I like Marte that much more.

Chalk up one save for Mota for ruining this deal.