And The Shortstop Carousel Continues

With Alex Gonzalez signing a one-year deal with Toronto, the shortstop position in Boston is, once again, open for business.

You would think, after five years of being unable to find a steady shortstop, that Theo would consider resigning someone who hit .284 and had a .994 fielding percentage with the Sox for at least one more year. You know, as a precaution. Just in case Jed Lowrie breaks one of his glass bones or something.

Nope. That would be crazy. Instead, Theo lets A-Gonz walk away for a pittance and we now are looking at...who exactly? And the first one of you knuckleheads that says "Hanley Ramirez" gets banned for a week.

Right now we have Lowrie, who apparently is more fragile than a Faberge egg. In system we have a couple of guys who could potentially be great shortstops. There's Yamacio Navarro as well as the recent Cuban signing Jose Iglesias. And if Casey Kelly isn't traded and doesn't become a pitcher, he's in that "shortstop of the future" mix as well. But those guys are all 1+ years off. Who do we have right now? No one. And so we have to look through the FA/Trade junkheap.

That's where you find someone like Adam Everett, he of the .613 OPS, .288 OBP and a weaker glove than Gonzo's. Or maybe we could pick up Marco Scutaro from the Jays. He's only 34, which I hear is a great age for shortstops. He also had a .984 fielding percentage. That's lower than what Gonzo gave the Sox, right? Or maybe Theo could bring back Orlando Cabrera, at which point I will make the two-hour trip to Boston so I can throw myself on the third rail at Downtown Crossing. Because what screams "I have a plan!" more than bringing back the shortstop you never should have gotten rid of five years ago? Oh, and it's not like his glove has deteriorated during that time.*

Gonzo wasn't perfect by a long shot. But he was a better choice that the scrapheap the Sox can pick at in the off-season. Unless Theo is lining up some trade for a quality shortstop that no one even sees coming at this point, short will be the weak point - AGAIN - for the Sox going into 2010. Wheeeee!

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* Which is to say, it has fallen off substantially. Between 2005-2008, Cabrera's FP held between .975 and .988. Last year it fell to .965 and his 25 errors (between Minny and Oakland) were the most Cabrera has had since he had 29 in 2002 back in Montreal. But hey, I'm sure it will all work out just fine.