Last week, Ben Cherington (rookie Red Sox GM) traded away the Red Sox the Red Sox's starting shortstop, Marco Scutaro. Why? To great financial wiggle room. The Sox will now platoon Mike Aviles and Nick Punto in the shortstop position unless they attain another shortstop via trade or free agency. Aviles has a career .288 BA and a .973 fielding percentage at SS; Punto has a career .249 BA and a .974 fielding percentage at SS. This is how Cherington wants to use our roster space?
The Sox essentially don't want to sign a shortstop long-term because they feel prospect Jose Iglesias is the solution to the revolving door at the position. I don't see it. Yes, Iglesias is seen as great defensively, but offensively, he has a long way to go. In the minors (2010-11), he has a .261 BA, but only hit .235 in Triple-A Pawtucket last year (101 games). His fielding percentage was good (.973%), but he will not be ready for the Majors in 2012.
So, what should the Sox do? I've heard rumors the Sox are looking for a SS via trade (Hanley Ramirez's name has floated around a few times, but I don't see that happening. He would cost too much in our already depleted farm system). Free agency? There's not a whole lot left out there. Alex Cora (though there are reports of him retiring), Miguel Tejada and Omar Vizquel (don't see it happening with either one), and Edgar Renteria (shutter...). In terms of free agency, the Sox are stuck.
If I was GM, I wouldn't have traded Scutaro, period. Sure, he's had injuries that prevented him in only playing in 113 games last year, but he was the best option the Sox have for the start of the season. Scutaro's .299 BA was great for any positional player, especially at shortstop (I don't even want to go back to shortstop BA over the past 8 years), and his .972 fielding percentage is pretty much the same as his replacements this year. Freeing up the $6 million or so from Scutaro's contract was supposed to be used to get Oswalt or Jackson. Personally, I don't see either one signing with the Sox.
No comments:
Post a Comment