The Short Stop Issue

[ability]

The Short Stop Issue.

The position of short stop for the Red Sox has been a complete revolving door since the departure of Nomar Garciaparra on July 31, 2004. Since that date the Red Sox have had Orlando Cabrera, Pokey Reese, Edgar Renteria, Alex Cora, Alex Gonzalez and Julio Lugo in that position. Along with a ton of other lesser named players every now and again (i.e. Cesar Crespo, Ricky Gutierrez, Ramon Vazquez, Alejandro Machado, etc., etc.). With those players have come the offensively talented - Garciaparra. The defensive wizards, Cabrera, Reese and Gonzalez. The big name bust, Renteria. And the general average ball player, Alex Cora. Currently the Red Sox are trotting out Julio Lugo as the everyday short stop, and because of that I have to ask — where are the short stops?

[JerseySoxFan19]

they're locked up with other clubs. i think we should go with a prospect for once if lugo becomes the big name bust part 2

[ChrisLDuncan]

they're locked up with other clubs. i think we should go with a prospect for once if lugo becomes the big name bust part 2

I'm not so sure that's still an "if"

[Mike D.]

I'm not so sure that's still an "if"

One bad year out of a 4 year contract isn't enough to call it a bust...give it time, and hope for the best.

Personally, if Lugo has a decent year this year, and Jed Lowrie has another good year in the minors (and maybe gets a taste of the majors), I could see the Sox shopping Lugo next off-season. With only two years left on his contract, and two more years of salary inflation since he signed, some team might bite.

[Mike D.]

The Short Stop Issue.

The position of short stop for the Red Sox has been a complete revolving door since the departure of Nomar Garciaparra on July 31, 2004. Since that date the Red Sox have had Orlando Cabrera, Pokey Reese, Edgar Renteria, Alex Cora, Alex Gonzalez and Julio Lugo in that position. Along with a ton of other lesser named players every now and again (i.e. Cesar Crespo, Ricky Gutierrez, Ramon Vazquez, Alejandro Machado, etc., etc.). With those players have come the offensively talented - Garciaparra. The defensive wizards, Cabrera, Reese and Gonzalez. The big name bust, Renteria. And the general average ball player, Alex Cora. Currently the Red Sox are trotting out Julio Lugo as the everyday short stop, and because of that I have to ask — where are the short stops?

Shortstop has been a bit of a revolving door for the Red Sox the last few years, but I think it's more coincidence than a trend. It's not like there's a shortage of shortstops out there, it's just that that was the way the cookie crumbled for us for the last few years.

All (or at least most) of the shortstops Boston has had have been solid players, some near stars....it's just that Boston traded or didn't retain the players for one reason or another. Nomar was traded, Cabrera wasn't resigned (I don't think he wanted to stay), Renteria was traded when he didn't take well to Boston. The others (Cora, Reese, etc) were never meant to be starters, but more backup utility types.

A position is a revolving door until it isn't, basically...second base was the same thing until this past year, and at different times over the last few decades, the same could be said for 1b, 3b, and the OF have been in similar states of flux.

If Lugo is here for four years, that'll kill the revolving door. Or, if Jed Lowrie turns out to be as good as some of us think he will, he could stop the madness.

[JerseySoxFan19]

i just hope we can get a shortstop that can hit over 230. and have less than 30 errors. now this wouldn't be an issue if edgar renteria could've played some defense in 2005. u ever notice how bad of luck we have with big name short stops.

[Evangelion]

One bad year out of a 4 year contract isn't enough to call it a bust...give it time, and hope for the best.

Do you recall what he did after he was traded to Los Angeles during the 2006 season?

u ever notice how bad of luck we have with big name short stops.

No.

We had a replacement for Garciaparra when the Red Sox obtain Cabrera, but decide to let Cabrera walk in favor of Renteria, who ended up having one bad season and ended up being traded to Atlanta, where he got back on track. Gonzalez came in the following season and base on Gonzalez's track record, he did was expected. Lugo, coming off a horrid second half with Los Angeles where he found himself bench, receive a deal from Boston. I do not see that as bad luck, just poor decisions.

[JerseySoxFan19]

yeah well bottom line i think theo goes loses all of his senses when we go after short stops. from now on we shoulod just sign guys for 1 year so we don't wind up stuck paying a guy who hits .230 10-20 mil. a year or something like that

[BoSox Rule]

I still have no problem with Julio Lugo at SS. He was definitely brutal last year with the bat but he still has the talent to turn in a good year. It's easy to forget he had a very good 3 1/2 year run with the Rays where he was a .280/.350/.420 player. He's still only 32 and his pretty good defensively.

[Mike D.]

Do you recall what he did after he was traded to Los Angeles during the 2006 season?

Yes, he had a bad 49 bad games (.219) for LA in 2006, after having 73 very good games (.308) in Tampa Bay. I'm not sure how relevant that is, since it was before the contract with Boston.

When I say it's too soon to judge a 4 year contract, I mean, if he hits .280-.300 over the next 3 years, it's still a good deal.

[JerseySoxFan19]

I still have no problem with Julio Lugo at SS. He was definitely brutal last year with the bat but he still has the talent to turn in a good year. It's easy to forget he had a very good 3 1/2 year run with the Rays where he was a .280/.350/.420 player. He's still only 32 and his pretty good defensively.

oh don't get me wrong i like lugo its just what happened with the last big name SS we signed i'm a bit cautious. it was julio's 1st year in boston last year and he should be adjusted by now if all things go well we might be looking at:
.285 average, 15 homers,25 SB, 110-160 hits(estimate), and around 5-15 errors in the field.

[Mike D.]

It's worth noting that Lugo hit .280/.322/.406 after the all-star break last year, after a brutal .197/.270/.298. That .322 OBP still isn't great, but it shows a vast improvement over the 1st half.

[JerseySoxFan19]

It's worth noting that Lugo hit .280/.322/.406 after the all-star break last year, after a brutal .197/.270/.298. That .322 OBP still isn't great, but it shows a vast improvement over the 1st half.

yeah .322 is OK(that's percentage right?) but if he improves and has a good season we won't have to worry about short for a while.

[Imgran]

I'd still rather have Lowrie. Lugo isn't that much better defensively and Lowrie can rake. He's got 15 HR power and .380-.400 OBP ability as a switch-hitting shortstop. And even if we ate some Lugo money we probably wouldn't eat enough that we wouldn't save money by promoting Lowrie.

[Mike D.]

I'd still rather have Lowrie. Lugo isn't that much better defensively and Lowrie can rake. He's got 15 HR power and .380-.400 OBP ability as a switch-hitting shortstop. And even if we ate some Lugo money we probably wouldn't eat enough that we wouldn't save money by promoting Lowrie.

I also hope Lowrie is the shortstop sooner rather than later. I think he could use a little more time at AAA, since he only played there for 40 games. I'm hoping that in 2008, Lugo plays well enough to make a trade like you suggest possible, and we can go with Lowrie in 2009. Of course, you never know, we could see a situation like we did in 2007, when Ellsbury forced Crisp to the bench.