Sox deal Coco to Kansas City

Things never quite went right for Coco Crisp during his inconsistent, injury-filled three-year career with the Red Sox.

The breakfast cereal hero got hurt early and never developed into a good offensive fit at Fenway. Now he’s Kansas City Royals’ property, after being dealt for right-handed reliever Ramon Ramirez yesterday.

“[Crisp] played through injuries, he played hard and he was a big part of us winning a championship,” said Sox GM Theo Epstein. “His offense never rebounded all the way to his previous norms, but he turned himself into — especially in 2007 — a tremendous defender that helped us win.”

The deal guarantees that Jacoby Ellsbury will have the center field job to himself, and it also brings another power arm for the back end of the bullpen to the Sox fold — an acquisition that gives Epstein the flexibility to trade pitching away for other needs or bump Justin Masterson to starting duty if there’s an opening.

“[Ramirez] does give us the flexibility to start Masterson if that does end up being what we feel is in the best interests of the ball club,” Epstein said. “Ramirez could potentially replace Masterson in the ’pen. It’s not easy to find a reliever with a good track record and plus stuff.”

Ramirez posted a 2.64 ERA in 71 games out of the Royals bullpen last season, and struck out an impressive 70 batters. The 2008 season served as a nice rebound campaign for the 27-year-old right-handed Dominican hurler, who Epstein described as having a “plus fastball 92-95-mph with an outstanding power change-up at 87-88-mph that’s a swing-and-miss pitch for both right-handed and left-handed hitters.”