| Christopher Reina. 4th December, 2009 - 12:14 pm
 As Derek Jeter at shortstop for the Yankees is as certain as death and taxes, the revolving door at shortstop continues for Boston, as they signed Marco Scutaro to a two-year deal with an option for a third. Scutaro is guaranteed $12.5 million over two years with the possibility to make $17 million over three.
Scutaro had a career year in 2009, at 33, hitting for an OPS of .789 (.282/.379/.409) and playing over 140 games and logging over 600 at bats for the first time. Offensively, Scutaro walks a lot and doesn't strike out too much and is a sound gap hitter, but he is nobody's version of a silver slugger. It is difficult to picture a scenario where a career .721 OPS hitter will exceed his 2009, if he does it won't be by much and he is more likely to regress.
Even with a regression, Scutaro is far more trustworthy at the plate than Jed Lowrie. If Lowrie does begin to hit, Scutaro can merely slide over to third or even left field, depending on what happens there with Boston's Jason Bay/Matt Holliday pursuits.
Familiarity with AL East pitching is a clear plus, though he has a career OPS of just .721 at Fenway Park and has hit for an OPS of .687 against the Yankees and .624 against the Rays.
Plugging in Scutaro at shortstop will allow Dustin Pedroia to remain at second base, where he is amongst the MLB's best. I don't doubt that Pedroia would have been able to transition over to the more challenging shortstop, but I doubt the longevity of his arm and his offensive numbers would have likely suffered, at least in the first season.
But Scutaro, a guy who has played every position on the field with the exception of catcher, center and pitcher, is valuable defensively for his versatility more than any semblance of brilliance at shortstop. In more limited duty at the position in 2008, Scutaro was excellent, but with 1,252.2 innings in 2009, he was in the bottom half at the position. For the two seasons of his contract, Scutaro will clearly not be a liability at short, but the Red Sox can't expect him to save runs in bunches.
With dollar amounts in the ten-figures and the loss of a draft pick, it is difficult to like this deal from Boston's perspective. To Boston's credit, this is a notoriously weak shortstop market, with Miguel Tejada (can't really play short anymore), Orlando Cabrera (can't really play short anymore and we've already been there) and Adam Everett being the only other alternatives.
The Red Sox conceivably could have bid on J.J. Hardy, who would excel at Fenway Park and plays a better defensive shortstop; Minnesota only had to give up Carlos Gomez to get him from Milwaukee, who surely would have preferred an arm from Boston's coffers.
Grade for Boston: C+
Scutaro's timing couldn't have conceivably been better. Career years are absolute godsends when they coincide with walk years and combine that with his lack of competition at shortstop in free agency and Scutaro gets more money than he ever dreamt of while toiling as Oakland's utilityman extraordinaire. To get that contract from a team perennially in the postseason is just the cherry.
Grade for Scutaro: A+ |
