Red Sox Sign Marco Scutaro

[Evantime34]

Well, SS has always seemed to be Theo's achilles. 

Sad, but true.

IMO, any big moves made by the Sox this off-season will be done via the trade route.

Agreed.

Disagree, we currently gave up a first rounder to sign Scutaro (Type A free agent), this signing shows that we are willing to give up picks to sign players.
The more free agents we sign the better this deal looks because that first rounder we gave up for Marco becomes a 3rd rounder if we say, sign Holliday and Beltre.

I love this deal, we signed him for cheap and only two years with a mutual option for a third year until Iglaseas is ready. Improvement over our current production at the position for cheap dollars, I like it.

[Fan from VT]

Well, SS has always seemed to be Theo's achilles.  I'm not enamored with the deal but I can accept it.  As long as his defense is steady, I'll be fine with it.  I'm looking for help on offense in other places, although I'm still not convinced Theo is going to make any big splashes this off-season at least not via free agency. 

IMO, any big moves made by the Sox this off-season will be done via the trade route.

Well to be fair to Theo, he came out and said he wouldn't have done the Beckett trade, in which case we'd have Hanley, in which case no shortstop problem.

[yall hate]

thought this was interesting:
http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/columns/story?columnist=gammons_peter&id=4713658

In mid-July, Scutaro's defensive metrics -- according to three teams' valuations -- were the best in the American League. Then the foot began bothering him, and the numbers were affected in August and September. "He'll be fine," former Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said. "When he's healthy, he's one of the three best defensive shortstops in the league.

"He's one of the best shortstops, period," Ricciardi said. "He's a guy that's going to be able to play at this level until he's 37 or 38. He works at it. Look, this is a great signing. He's a really smart player. He's a great base runner. He keeps improving (his on base percentage has risen from .332 to .341 to .379 the last three seasons). He grinds at-bats (he led all shortstops in pitches per at-bat). He could bat leadoff and they could let Dustin Pedoria bat third. He can do a lot of things."

Epstein is always looking for hitters who grind at-bats, and next year's team will have five of the top 18 American League hitters in pitches per at-bat in Kevin Youklis (1), David Ortiz (7), J.D. Drew (9), Scutaro (13) and Victor Martinez (18).

couple relevant things in there.  praise for his defense.  positive trend in obp for last three years (people have been mentioning his career year).  good base running.  lead off potential.  see's a lot of pitches...

[Chris]

good base running.  lead off potential.  see's a lot of pitches...

Honestly, these three things make the deal worth it.  If he plays even average defense, and is able to make pitchers work, and do the little things on the plate and on the bases, than he will be a major upgrade over what they have had the last few years. 

[nickagneta]

Seems like I've been hearing these praises over every new shortstop we have brought in here since Nomar left.

Well, if he can do this and he can do that and just give us this to get by then he's going to be a good addition. I've heard this about:

Edgar Rentaria
Julio Lugo
Alex Gonzalez
Alex Cora
Jed Lowry
Nick Green

and now Marco Scutaro.

I'll be convinced once we actually sign or trade for an All-Star at the position of until we can get through a season without hearing about how bad our shortstop is at ____________(fill in the blank).

[yall hate]

Seems like I've been hearing these praises over every new shortstop we have brought in here since Nomar left.

Well, if he can do this and he can do that and just give us this to get by then he's going to be a good addition. I've heard this about:

Edgar Rentaria
Julio Lugo
Alex Gonzalez
Alex Cora
Jed Lowry
Nick Green

and now Marco Scutaro.

I'll be convinced once we actually sign or trade for an All-Star at the position of until we can get through a season without hearing about how bad our shortstop is at ____________(fill in the blank).

I understand the point you are trying to make, but people never said those things about green, never said lugo or gonzalez saw a lot of pitches, etc...

Cora was always intended to be a role player, Green was expected to be a utility player at best, etc...

[Chris]

Seems like I've been hearing these praises over every new shortstop we have brought in here since Nomar left.

Well, if he can do this and he can do that and just give us this to get by then he's going to be a good addition. I've heard this about:

Edgar Rentaria
Julio Lugo
Alex Gonzalez
Alex Cora
Jed Lowry
Nick Green

and now Marco Scutaro.

I'll be convinced once we actually sign or trade for an All-Star at the position of until we can get through a season without hearing about how bad our shortstop is at ____________(fill in the blank).

We heard that about Lugo offensively.  He was supposed to be a good leadoff hitter with a little pop, and great speed, while being a passable defender who gets to everything, but does not have the best hands.

With Gonzalez I never heard that though.  His scouting report was always as a defensive wiz who had a little pop in his bat, but struck out too much, rarely walked, and did not have productive at bats. 

With Lowry, he actually came touted as a guy who should ultimately be a third or second baseman defensively, but could be passable at SS, while be a very good offensive player.  I remember hearing comparisons to Bill Mueller. 

Nick Green...well, I don't remember hearing much of a scouting report for him, since I think he kind of came out of nowhere.

And of course Rentaria was touted as a significant upgrade both offensively and defensively over Cabrera.  He was basically one of the best SS's in the league before coming to Boston.

So what does this tell us?  Pretty much that we know nothing right now.

[yall hate]

renteria had to be the biggest disapointment of them all.  he was at the top of spectrum in terms of SS's when we got him.  looked like a fairly complete player.  then he sucked.  At least Lugo, while being billed as a 'savior' had sucked for a year and a half before we signed him (tells you something about how bad a miss that was for the front office)


Scutaro isnt a star, and shouldnt be counted on to be one.  As long as he gives us a solid 8,9 hitter and above avg defense, the signing is a good one

[KJ33]

renteria had to be the biggest disapointment of them all.  he was at the top of spectrum in terms of SS's when we got him.  looked like a fairly complete player.  then he sucked.  At least Lugo, while being billed as a 'savior' had sucked for a year and a half before we signed him (tells you something about how bad a miss that was for the front office)


Scutaro isnt a star, and shouldnt be counted on to be one.  As long as he gives us a solid 8,9 hitter and above avg defense, the signing is a good one

History revisionism once again on CelticsBlog, shocker.  Renteria certainly had a bad year defensively, but offensively he was very good.  He scored 100 runs, a career high, with 70 RBIs and 36 doubles right in line with his career #s.  He was also struggling with a back injury all year, I have no doubt if he had stayed another year, his D would have improved and his offense would have remained steady.

[KJ33]

Seems like I've been hearing these praises over every new shortstop we have brought in here since Nomar left.

Well, if he can do this and he can do that and just give us this to get by then he's going to be a good addition. I've heard this about:

Edgar Rentaria
Julio Lugo
Alex Gonzalez
Alex Cora
Jed Lowry
Nick Green

and now Marco Scutaro.

I'll be convinced once we actually sign or trade for an All-Star at the position of until we can get through a season without hearing about how bad our shortstop is at ____________(fill in the blank).

From Blue Jays first base/infield coach Brian Butterfield:

“His hands are as good as any hands I’ve ever coached in major league baseball, and I’ve been in the big leagues for 14 years and I’ve had the opportunity to be around some great infielders,” said Butterfield when appearing on the Mut and Bradford Show, Friday.

“This guy has no panic in his hands and he’s going to catch the ball. He’s very intelligent. He is 34 years old, but he takes great care of himself. He’s got a youthful body and he cares about baseball. A lot of times you look over at the other side of the field and you can see the skill, the arm strength, the running, the quickness, the ability to catch the ball, the ability to get it in the air. But a lot of times as a scout or being on the other side you don’t get a chance to get to know the player. But having had Marco I can assure you he cares about the game, he’s very popular among his teammates, he’s got an infectious personality, his teammates gravitate to him, and he does a lot of things on a baseball that help you win the game.”

WEEI.com’s own Lou Merloni, who played with Scutaro both in winter ball and in the majors (taken from his Nov. 29 blog entry):

“Now that Alex Gonzalez has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Red Sox’ primary target to play shortstop should be Marco Scutaro. As a matter of fact, it should have been Scutaro from the very beginning.

“There has been a lot of talk about how Scutaro is coming off a career year at the age of 33. People are calling his defense “adequate,” saying that Marco is a career utility guy.

“The reality is is that for the first time in his career, he was given the starting job at short, his best defensive position. His defense is ABOVE average at short. If you ask me, the American League Gold Glove should have gone to either Eric Aybar or Marco Scutaro.

“People have no idea how good this kid is because we will always view him as the utility guy for the Oakland A’s. He’s much better than that.  I actually don’t see much difference between Scutaro and Alex Gonzalez defensively.

“I’m not talking about the Gonzo from 2006 — that was one of the best defensive seasons I have ever seen. I’m talking about the 2009 version of Alex Gonzalez.

“I’ve played against Scutaro for years, in the minor leagues and the big leagues. I’ve always been amazed that no team ever gave him a shot to start.

[nickagneta]

Seems like I've been hearing these praises over every new shortstop we have brought in here since Nomar left.

Well, if he can do this and he can do that and just give us this to get by then he's going to be a good addition. I've heard this about:

Edgar Rentaria
Julio Lugo
Alex Gonzalez
Alex Cora
Jed Lowry
Nick Green

and now Marco Scutaro.

I'll be convinced once we actually sign or trade for an All-Star at the position of until we can get through a season without hearing about how bad our shortstop is at ____________(fill in the blank).

From Blue Jays first base/infield coach Brian Butterfield:

“His hands are as good as any hands I’ve ever coached in major league baseball, and I’ve been in the big leagues for 14 years and I’ve had the opportunity to be around some great infielders,” said Butterfield when appearing on the Mut and Bradford Show, Friday.

“This guy has no panic in his hands and he’s going to catch the ball. He’s very intelligent. He is 34 years old, but he takes great care of himself. He’s got a youthful body and he cares about baseball. A lot of times you look over at the other side of the field and you can see the skill, the arm strength, the running, the quickness, the ability to catch the ball, the ability to get it in the air. But a lot of times as a scout or being on the other side you don’t get a chance to get to know the player. But having had Marco I can assure you he cares about the game, he’s very popular among his teammates, he’s got an infectious personality, his teammates gravitate to him, and he does a lot of things on a baseball that help you win the game.”

WEEI.com’s own Lou Merloni, who played with Scutaro both in winter ball and in the majors (taken from his Nov. 29 blog entry):

“Now that Alex Gonzalez has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Red Sox’ primary target to play shortstop should be Marco Scutaro. As a matter of fact, it should have been Scutaro from the very beginning.

“There has been a lot of talk about how Scutaro is coming off a career year at the age of 33. People are calling his defense “adequate,” saying that Marco is a career utility guy.

“The reality is is that for the first time in his career, he was given the starting job at short, his best defensive position. His defense is ABOVE average at short. If you ask me, the American League Gold Glove should have gone to either Eric Aybar or Marco Scutaro.

“People have no idea how good this kid is because we will always view him as the utility guy for the Oakland A’s. He’s much better than that.  I actually don’t see much difference between Scutaro and Alex Gonzalez defensively.

“I’m not talking about the Gonzo from 2006 — that was one of the best defensive seasons I have ever seen. I’m talking about the 2009 version of Alex Gonzalez.

“I’ve played against Scutaro for years, in the minor leagues and the big leagues. I’ve always been amazed that no team ever gave him a shot to start.

What are you, Scutaro's agent?

He's a nice little player that has definitely peaked and at 34 will probably have plateaued and might see some regression in his skills over the course of his contract. If he gives this team the same defense that he had been playing up until he hurt himself in early August and can give the team 85-110% of the numbers he put up last year, he will be a good stop gap until the Sox find or produce someone for the long term.

But given the amount of players and the quality of players and what they have given this team at the shortstop position over the last 6 years, this move is nothing to get excited about. He's an okay player.

But he isn't a difference maker and he is exactly the type of player and contract I expect from this team this year. Nothing big time. Nothing long term. They are going to give this group of players(Tek, Papi, Beckett, Lowell, Papelbon, Okijima, Drew, etc.) another year or so and then start over with the best of the best of what they have and go nuts replacing people starting next off season.

[yall hate]

renteria had to be the biggest disapointment of them all.  he was at the top of spectrum in terms of SS's when we got him.  looked like a fairly complete player.  then he sucked.  At least Lugo, while being billed as a 'savior' had sucked for a year and a half before we signed him (tells you something about how bad a miss that was for the front office)


Scutaro isnt a star, and shouldnt be counted on to be one.  As long as he gives us a solid 8,9 hitter and above avg defense, the signing is a good one

History revisionism once again on CelticsBlog, shocker.  Renteria certainly had a bad year defensively, but offensively he was very good.  He scored 100 runs, a career high, with 70 RBIs and 36 doubles right in line with his career #s.  He was also struggling with a back injury all year, I have no doubt if he had stayed another year, his D would have improved and his offense would have remained steady.

He was  massive disapointment.  If you are going to pull out stats, pull them all out.  his hr total was the lowest since 1998 when he was 22. his sb's were the lowest of his career (by drastic amounts) he struck out 100 times, the most since 1997 when he was 21.  his ba was lower then it had been in 3 years.  his obp was lower.  slugging was very low.

He was a gold glover in 2 of the 3 years prior to coming to the sox. he was an mvp candidate in 2 of those 3 years.  he was an all star in 2 of those three years.

As you previously mentioned, his fielding was atrocious (30 errors).  He was 20 total runs BELOW average.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/renteed01.shtml?redir



whether he sucked or not, based on what he had played as (Unlike Lugo who was terrible the year before coming to the Sox) Renteria fell off a freaking cliff when he got here. 

[yall hate]

But he isn't a difference maker and he is exactly the type of player and contract I expect from this team this year. Nothing big time. Nothing long term. They are going to give this group of players(Tek, Papi, Beckett, Lowell, Papelbon, Okijima, Drew, etc.) another year or so and then start over with the best of the best of what they have and go nuts replacing people starting next off season.

Does your opinion change when they give Bay or Holliday a big money deal for at least 4 years?

And I know you have pushed your thinking that they are going to make small deals, but what other SS or 2b (if you believe Pedroia being moved over made sense), that is available,  would have been a better signing?

[hpantazo]

But he isn't a difference maker and he is exactly the type of player and contract I expect from this team this year. Nothing big time. Nothing long term. They are going to give this group of players(Tek, Papi, Beckett, Lowell, Papelbon, Okijima, Drew, etc.) another year or so and then start over with the best of the best of what they have and go nuts replacing people starting next off season.

Does your opinion change when they give Bay or Holliday a big money deal for at least 4 years?

And I know you have pushed your thinking that they are going to make small deals, but what other SS or 2b (if you believe Pedroia being moved over made sense), that is available,  would have been a better signing?

excellent point, who exactly where they supposed to get to play SS? I would be happy if they spend the $$ on a big bat and an ace SP.

[nickagneta]

But he isn't a difference maker and he is exactly the type of player and contract I expect from this team this year. Nothing big time. Nothing long term. They are going to give this group of players(Tek, Papi, Beckett, Lowell, Papelbon, Okijima, Drew, etc.) another year or so and then start over with the best of the best of what they have and go nuts replacing people starting next off season.

Does your opinion change when they give Bay or Holliday a big money deal for at least 4 years?

And I know you have pushed your thinking that they are going to make small deals, but what other SS or 2b (if you believe Pedroia being moved over made sense), that is available,  would have been a better signing?

Honestly, for what Scutaro gives them, I expected them to reup Gonzalez for a two year $5.5 million deal. Gonzalez gives them just about everything that Scutaro gives them except the walks and pitches per at bat.