Lugo needs to go. Somewhere, anywhere. Are those Milwaukee Sausages still available for trade? Even if they were, the Brewer’s would probably be very unlikely to trade for another Sox cast-off after the Gagne debacle and the decline of Julian Tavarez, especially for a man with a shoe box for a glove.
Year Team Games Innings Errors Pct.
2004 TBY 143 1238 25 .963
2005 TBY 156 1338 24 .968
2006 TBY 73 620 14 .957
2006* LAD 8 27 2 .857
2007 SOX 145 1228 19 .968
2008** SOX 63 526 14 .939
* Lugo played in 48 games with LAD at other positions.
** Does not include tonight’s game.
While Lugo does not appear to have a shot at setting a new record for most errors in one season by a shortstop in the modern era of baseball (1903, John Gochnaur of Cleveland, 98 biffs), he does have a realistic shot of breaking the record for most errors in one season by a shortstop in this century, currently held by Jose Valentin in 2000 with 36 biffs.
Now that he’s got his batting average out of the toilet, currently at .278, he’s gone and replaced his bat in the commode with his glove.
Getting back to the game, I see he (partially) atoned for his errors by hitting a solo shot to tie the game. But committing 2 errors in one inning can change the tempo and flow of the game in a heartbeat. The Sox have now fallen behind by 2 runs, not of Lugo’s (immediate) undoing, but I wonder how much the Sox were rattled by that inning. This won’t be the first game Lugo’s botched, nor will it be the last. I hope Theo is doing his homework and searching for a way out of this mess at shortstop. I say unload him, eat his contract and put Lowrie (2008: BA .310, Fld. Pct. 1.000 in 17 games) in at shortstop ASAP. If not, Lugo will cost the team more than he is being paid (which is more than he is worth.)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
