There has been lots of talk lately about the revolving door of Red Sox shortstops since the early 2000’s. Edgar Renteria had one terrible year. Alex Gonzales had two stints and both times refused to re-sign. Julio Lugo was a bad free-agent signing. And now Mario Scutaro, after two fairly productive years, is gone in a trade. A “Red Sox Beat” article in the Herald by Michael Silverman lists 20 different players at the position since Nomar Garciaparra was traded in 2004. Apparently, Nick Punto can field and Mike Aviles can hit, but neither is a long-term solution.
Silverman points out that Nomar’s projected successor was Hanley Ramirez, who went in a somewhat controversial trade. However, the deal netted Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett, without whom the Sox would not have won the 2007 World Series.
It is interesting that of the five different Opening Day shortstops since 2004, only injury-prone Jed Lowrie came up through the Sox system. Shortstop is not a position to fool around with. A bad signing, such as that of Lugo, can put the team in a deep hole.
That is why it is important to groom a shortstop like Jose Iglesias for the position. Iglesias’ offensive stats last year suggest he is not ready-a .235 average in Pawtucket and a .285 on-base percentage-but the Sox should wait. It may mean going a full year with Punto and Aviles, but they should not be throwing money at someone. They have been burned several times lately-JD Drew, John Lackey, and possibly Carl Crawford. Iglesias is a known commodity, and he deserves every chance.
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