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| Where It Stands with Scutaro | 11.28.09 at 5:56 pm ET |
The Red Sox shortstop situation was infused with some potential positive news for the team on Saturday.
Two days after news came out that Alex Gonzalez would be signing with the Blue Jays, Marco Scutaro — thought to be a target of the Red Sox to replace Gonzalez — was quoted by Venezuelan reporter Augusto Cardenas as saying that four teams — the Rangers, Mariners, Dodgers, and Red Sox — have all shown interest in him.
Scutaro went on to say that he preferred the Red Sox and Dodgers at this point because of their potential to reach the postseason, and that he hopes to define his situation sometime after Dec. 1. None of the teams, the 34-year-old was quoted as saying, has made a formal offer. Scutaro explained that the Dodgers are interested in him playing second base — his primary position in the minors, and a spot where he spent about half of his defensive time as recently as 2008 with the Blue Jays — while the Red Sox are looking at him as a shortstop, with the other organizations perhaps identifying him as a third baseman.
Since the report came out, Texas general manager Jon Daniels was quoted by the Dallas News as saying the Rangers have no interest in acquiring Scutaro as a third baseman to replace Michael Young. There would be presumably no other place to fit Scutaro, with Elvis Andrus at shortstop and All-Star Ian Kinsler at second.
“We haven’t inquired about anyone for 3B and have no plans to,” Daniels wrote in an email to the Dallas News. “End of story.”
Scutaro is a ‘Type A’ free agent, meaning that any team that signs him would have to forfeit a draft pick, assuming Toronto offers arbitration to the shortstop by Dec. 1. After the signing of Gonzalez, and given the interest from other teams in the free-agent market, it is not expected that Scutaro will accept the Blue Jays’ offer of arbitraiton.
The Red Sox had told Gonzalez that they were prepared to offer him a one-year, $3 million deal, but that he would have to wait until the Winter Meetings to do so. The Meetings start on Dec. 7, which is also the last day players have to decide whether or not they are going to accept arbitration.
By that date, the Sox will know whether they are likely to net a draft pick from reliever Billy Wagner, another Type A free agent who is all but certain to receive an arbitration offer from the Sox.
(Wagner’s agent, Bean Stringfellow, told WEEI.com Wednesday that he fully expected his client would be offered arbitration by the Red Sox, and isn’t ruling out a return to Boston.
“Billy is absolutely, believe or not, open to going back to Boston,” Stringfellow said. It was Wagner, the agent said, that listed the Red Sox as one of the teams he would be open to signing with when Stringfellow met with his client immediately after the regular season ended. “If you asked me if he would be open to returning to Boston right after the season ended I would say there was no chance. But he’s the one that brought it up to me,” he said. “He shared some stories that gave him comfort there in Boston that made him feel like he could come back there. It was one of the most positive experiences that he ever had.”)
The Red Sox presumably set the timetable for the offer to Gonzalez to pursue what they deemed more desirable shortstop options, one of whom figures to be Scutaro. Gonzalez, in turn, decided to take the sure offer of Toronto’s one-year, $2.75 million guarantee for 2010, with a $2.5 million option for 2011.
Many fans have been critical of the Red Sox in the wake of Gonzalez’ departure, feeling the 32-year-old’s defensive abilities made him difficult to replace. But according to baseball executives, coaches and players who have worked with Scutaro, the 34-year-old is at least comparable with Gonzalez defensively, with one general manager giving Scutaro the slight edge.
“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 Blue Jays third base and infielders coach Brian 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.”
Butterfield said that, if given the chance, he would have voted for Scutaro for the American League Gold Glove. Another advocate of Scutaro’s abilities is Blue Jays infielder John McDonald, who came up through the minor leagues with the former second baseman.
“Last year I think he played one of the best shortstops (in baseball) for the first five months, until he hurt his heel,” said McDonald on the Mut and Bradford Show, referencing Scutaro’s battle plantar fasciitis. “He was tremendous playing defense … I thought last year (Scutaro and Gonzalez) were very comparable.”
17 Comments for “Where It Stands with Scutaro”
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November 28th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Lets just hope this works out for us or else theo needs to do some splaining to why he blundered SS again.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Rob,
I actually support wanting Scutaro over A.Gonzalez, but is it possible for you to kiss up to the Red Sox more than you already do?
And are you going fishing with Josh Beckett again this offseason?
November 28th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
BTW, Rob Bradford’s interview today with Pedroia was like a 15 year-old interviewing his favorite Red Sox player.
It went downhill fast when Rob Bradford wanted to know Dustin Pedroia’s tips for marriage proposals or if Pedroia has a Hulk Hogan shirt.
November 28th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
There’s way too many negative Sox fans who just line up the SS position to kill Theo on. I agree to a point, but SS isn’t the end all be all and it hasn’t never cost us anything in terms of winning. The Red Sox will always have stars and the money to negate any small deficiency in their teams. Lets hope Butterfield is right about the defensive comparisons…I’m only concerned with his offense, his OBP was 40 points higher than it has ever been last year. Can he repeat that or can he do it for 2-3 yrs at age 34?? We shall see, but there are other options available, no need to focus on 1 position.
November 28th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Theo and the boys have not had a good signing in free agency since Schilling. The money that they spent on Smoltz, Penny et al could have been more than enough to sign Teixera. For $250,000 and dithering, they lost Gonzo. Are they now going to make a panic trade for halliday? iF THEY KEEP IT UP, At some point the Sox will start to have some games that are not sold out. that will mark the end of the gravy train for henry et al. Until then, they are milking the fan base with crap.
November 28th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
mr t, How you can say that? You KNOW, because Teixeira and his wife said it publicly, that he was going to NYY and was never, ever going to be a Red Sox. WE ALL know, after the fact, that the back & forth between Boras & the Sox, Orioles, Angels, Nats were simply about raising Teixeira’s price. They were all used by Boras, again. Unfortunately, the Sox shoulder program worked great for Penny and Smoltz as expected, but for a couple of NL teams, but FA Takashi Saito worked out well for the Sox. Let’s hope for the same with whichever of Bedard, Duchscherer, Harden, Sheets Theo signs … soon, I hope. We will miss Gonzo, and wish him success in Toronto. I’ll applaud when he comes to Fenway. However, IMO, Scutaro has improved incrementally for several years. I’ve seen him make some outrageously good plays (like Gonzo) and wouldn’t be surprised if he maintains this level for a year or two. Worst case is he regresses to his career average of .265/.337/.384 with 10/57/75/29-2b. Like Lowrie, he can also play a strong 2b, 3b (even 1b) so expect him and Jed to provide strong defense and productive bats, with Marco probably becoming Jed’s backup in a year or so. This is a win-win, including for Gonzo.
November 29th, 2009 at 12:34 am
Its been real funny to listen to this radio station as a yankee fan. All you hear is the yankees bought another championship. I didn’t hear that when the sox did the same thing in 2004 with Schilling or when they bought D-K Its always a double standard with red sox nation When A-Rod was guity of steriods all you heard from sox fans was he cheated, you are right and so did Manny and Big cheater Big Papi.So i guess those championships don’t count. Right? The Sox are just jealous because they will always be a second class ball team. The other famous saying for Red Sox nation was we don’t care what you did in the past its about now. Well your right what have the sox done now nothing except getting swept in the playoffs. When everybody said they would handle the angels know problem. We have Beckett & Lester how that work out. Beckett is a shell of his former shelf. It will be 86 more years before the sox win another championship. Teixeira knows where the best team in the history of baseball plays its in Yankee Stadium. Not in Boston.
November 29th, 2009 at 12:54 am
One more thing. Its not that the Sox don’t have the money, They rather keep it for them selfs. When will they ever build a new park? never because they won’t spend the money. That what the yankees will alway do invest in there club or there ballpark. In Boston its not about championships, its about making money, and they have plenty. They paid 90 million just to talk contract with Dice-K so don’t tell me they can’t compete with the yankees. That’s the excuse for there fans to hear. The yankees spend over a billion dollars on that park for there franchise and there fans. When you hear these Sox fans cried about a salary cap it a joke. Didn’t hear that when they bought Schilling and a championship in 2004 or 2007 when they were the team with the highest payroll ever to win the world series.
When was the outcry for a salary cap then? Or i forgot Red Sox won the series. That’s why even when the sox win they are still losers because they are always complaining about the Yankees. Don’t hear the yankees ever complain about the Sox. Why? Because this is the system and they play to win first. By the way didn’t the sox buy Manny too.
November 29th, 2009 at 1:32 am
Rich, Yanks didn’t build the stadium, the tax payers did (big difference). I agree with you that Henry and company have been playing poor mans baseball lately. But really, your going to come on here after spending half a BILLION dollars in salary, and say some fans are wrong for saying the yanks bought a championship? At some point you’ve got to pull your head out of the sand and come back to reality.
November 29th, 2009 at 6:10 am
Since when have we all watched and scouted players as a profession like The Red Sox do? Who cares how much money the Red Sox owners spend on players? Is it our money?
Enjoy the team for what it is and the sport.
The Red Sox will improve the team as best as possible. Trades and acqusitions will start soon, so try to enjoy what a great city we have for professonal sports.
Anyone interested in MOnday nights game?
November 29th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Major Blunder by THEO…he’ll now have to pay a lot more to get Scutaro who is not a better fielder…and is historically just a little better at the plate..although its a toss up in some years based on Baseball reference stats.
November 29th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Hey Rich,
I enjoyed listening to last year when your team wasn’t even in the postseason.
Congrats on going 2 billion U.S. dollars between championships! Only Cashman could screw up with the highest payroll in sports.
November 29th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
I said W F A N radio in NY.
- did it get edited out?
I enjoyed listening to that station in NY when the Yankees were not able to buy a championship like in ‘09. I guess a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.
November 29th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I really believe the Red Sox can do a whole lot better the Marco Scutaro. He to me stinks like Lugo. The difference is that Lugo actually was a decent player for most of his career. Where as Scutaro just had one good year. I dont have a clear cut answer at shortstop because there isnt one. Id like to see Hanley back, while we wait for Jose Iglesias. Once Jose is ready Hanley can move to 3rd.
November 30th, 2009 at 11:02 am
rich, did you forget the yanks had TWICE the sox payroll when they won it either year. regardless until there is a firm cap in place with a min and max salary mlb will be tainted not only by winners but teams like the pirates and marlins who are content on losing and making their money through trading talent. that needs to be the topic of the gms meetings this week
November 30th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
What executive was drunk enough to say Scutaro has a slight edge defensively over Gonzalez. I could care less that Gonzalez left, but there is no way the Red Sox judge him as better defensively. He is average at best.
If people are this worked up over Gonzalez it’s going to be amazing when Jason Bay leaves.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:35 am
First of all, the Sox did not “BUY” Schilling….they traded for him. And the Sox did not “BUY” their championships. The core of those teams was built through the draft, trades and low cost FAs (Ortiz, Bill Mueller, Millar,etc.). The only HIGH PRICED FAs on the team were Manny and Damon in 2004(Both Prior Front Office Signings) and Drew, Lugo and Dice-K in 2007….and how big an impact were those players??? Those teams were built very much like the Yankee teams from the 90’s, via the farm system and trades. IN 2009, the Yankees did BUY a championship…..because without Texeria, Burnett and Sabbathia, they don’t win, period.