« This Day In Red Sox History: December 6, 1991 | Home | This Day In Baseball History: December 7th »
Scutaro Signing Getting Great Reviews
By Administrator | December 6, 2009
Based on all of the pubished reports, Marco Scutaro will fit in very nicely with the Red Sox, both on the field and in the clubhouse. And if he lives up to the hype, he should be a very popular player with the residents of Red Sox Nation.
The Sox have had quite a few players take a turn at shortstop since Nomar Garciaparra was dealt at the trade deadline in 2004. Orlando Cabrera, Pokey Reese, Edgar Renteria, Alex Gonzalez (twice), Alex Cora, Julio Lugo, Jed Lowrie and Nick Green have all given it a whirl - with mixed results (mostly bad).
Enter Scutaro.
The Sox acquired Gonzalez from the Cincinnati Reds at the trade deadline in the hopes he would help carry them deep into the post-season, but the offensive malais in the playoffs caused a quick exit in October. Those struggles are likely one of the primary reasons the club was looking to make a change at shortstop heading into 2010, and underscored the need to bring in a better offensive performer at shortstop — especially in the ultra-competitive AL East.
A-Gon has historically struggled at the plate (he’s a .247 career hitter who averages about 10 HR and 48 RBI each season)… meanwhile, Scutaro has improved offensively in each of the last three years, averaging a .270 batting average, a .351 OBP, 9 HR and 54 RBI.
It is quite possible he is destined to have no more than a two- or three-year stint in Boston, due to the fact that the Sox eventually expect to hand the position to 19-year-old prospect Jose Iglesias. Most observers believe the young Cuban can play major league caliber defense right now, but he’ll apparently need a few years of seasoning in order to develop major league competency at the plate.
In the interim, Scutaro will play solid defense while providing a bit more at the plate. He signed a two-year deal, with a two-way option for the 2012 season. Under the terms of the deal, he’ll earn at least $12.5 million — a $1 million signing bonus, $5 million per year, and $1.5 million buyout if the option is not picked up (the club option is for $6 million, with a player option for $3 million).
He cashed in on a career year in 2009, when he hit .282 and slugged .409 (both career highs), but the Red Sox feel he is worth the investment.
GM Theo Epstein said: “We were looking to upgrade at shortstop. We were pretty clear about that going into the winter. Right from the start, we identified Marco as the best available free agent and a guy who would be the best fit for this ball club. When someone has a career year at age 33, you have to look at it with some scrutiny, and we did that. You want to see if you can identify the factors that contributed to it, how many of those factors are repeatable, and how many are just random or luck. The more we looked at Marco’s career… it’s clear there’s been improvement.”
Epstein cited his plate discipline, his contact rate and his ability to hit the ball hard to all fields as the reasons the Sox don’t foresee a significant regression.
In the field, Scutaro’s got good range, great instincts and a strong, accurate throwing arm… and he can play any position in the infield.
But those aren’t the only reasons the front office decided to invest in the former Mets, A’s and Blue Jays infielder. Former Sox coach Ken Macha, who managed him in Oakland from 2004-06, says that Scutaro is the kind of player who will always find a way to help his team win ballgames: “(Red Sox fans) will enjoy the heck out of the guy. He comes to play every day. He focuses on what the team needs to do and what he can do to help the team win… he’s a heck of a player.”
Former Blue Jays GM J P Ricciardi, who acquired Scutaro in a trade with the Athletics, recently said that the infielder reminds him of NE Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker: “I think Scutaro might have been the best trade I ever made. He’s just a great guy who’s getting better as he plays. He’s a really good baseball player. He’s a tough out, he gets on base, and he sees a lot of pitches. I don’t think he’ll be fazed by being in Boston. To me, he’s like Wes Welker — a guy who took a while to establish himself but isn’t awed by being in the big leagues.”
He added: “He’s a professional hitter, he plays hard and runs hard. When all was said and done, he might have been one of the three best shortstops in the American League last year. He extends the lineup. He sees a lot of pitches and drives up a pitcher’s pitch count — those are all positives.”
Here’s hoping that he turns out to be everything that JP and Ken — and Theo — think he’s going to be.
Topics: Sox Players, SoxTransactions |
