Nomar 10.0: The Search for Another Red Sox Shortstop

(macdaddyx4) -- I would just like to admit that the only football I watched today was the last five minutes of the first half of the Giants/49ers game. Horrible football fan, probably. So that's why I'm going to talk about baseball instead.

On Saturday, the Boston Red Sox traded shortstop Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies for pitcher Clayton Mortensen. The Red Sox got a young pitcher with some potential and six million dollars in salary relief, while the Rockies finally get a second baseman they can trust. But the most important part of the trade is that the Red Sox will be looking for their eighth shortstop since they traded franchise icon Nomar Garciaparra in 2004.

I cried and you will, too

I won’t lie, I’m a huge Nomar fan and I was heartbroken when he was traded. But he turned down a four-year, $60 million extension before the 2004 season and he was never the same offensively or defensively after the trade, so in hindsight it may have been the right move. The problem is that the Red Sox have had eight different players play significant time at shortstop since the trade: Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, Alex Gonzalez, Alex Cora, Julio Lugo, Nick Green, Jed Lowrie, and of course Scutaro.

The Red Sox are apparently comfortable with Mike Aviles and Nick Punto splitting shortstop duties next season. Aviles performed well with the Red Sox, hitting .317 with a 107 OPS+ after being traded from Kansas City. Punto has a career year, hitting .278/.388/.421 with a 127 OPS+ in 63 games for St. Louis. Neither will approach Nomar’s prime numbers, but they could come close to Scutaro’s solid 2.9 WAR in 2011. If not, they will be hitting ninth in a potent lineup, so the Red Sox won’t need to rely too much on their bats.

Red Sox prospect Jose Iglesias could also be in the mix this season. While he may have one of the worst bats the baseball world has seen since Rey Ordonez (ten extra-base hits in nearly four hundred AAA at-bats last season), he has a fantastic glove and  plus range and could be an elite MLB shortstop if he could cut down on the mental mistakes that plague him in the field.

At least Ordonez could fly

Knowing the way the Red Sox treat youngish pitchers like Mortensen, who knows what could happen with him. Too old to be considered an elite prospect but still young enough to have a successful career, he will be thrown into the competition for the Red Sox’ fifth starter job with the likes of Aaron Cook, Vincente Padilla, and Carlos Silva. Mortensen was very effective in 58.1 innings with the Rockies last year, and if he continues improving, he should be able to beat out the veterans and give the Red Sox some more youth and save a few bucks to start the season. Or he could wither away in AAA while the veterans each get a chance. Only time will tell.

From a fantasy standpoint, Scutaro definitely benefits from this trade. He gets a chance to hit second in front of Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, giving him a chance to see some great pitches and increasing his chances of scoring if he gets on. He will also be playing second base instead of shortstop. If Casey Blake gets injured like Casey Blake often does or he proves to be ineffective, Scutaro might even see himself playing some third base. Let’s not forget the Coors Field factor, which won’t suddenly make him a thirty home run guy but should boost his batting average and slugging percentage by a bit.

Blake gets a high five from James Loney for being healthy

Aviles and Punto probably won’t be worthwhile fantasy pickups, unless one of them takes the job and runs with it. There is worse than hitting ninth in the Red Sox lineup, but if you’re splitting time 50/50 with another player, you’re not worth even a bench spot in fantasy. Punto is a career .248 hitter with an OPS+ of 76, so I don’t see him repeating last year’s performance at the age of 34. Aviles is better in his career with a .288 average and an OPS+ of 98, so he definitely has offensive upside if he can take the job away from the slicker-fielding Punto.

Then again, all of this talk of Mortensen and the duo of Punto and Aviles playing important roles might be thrown out the window over the next few weeks. The main reason the Red Sox made the trade was to save six million dollars, which they could use towards an established pitcher like Roy Oswalt or possibly towards a shortstop upgrade through the trade market. Oswalt would instantly bring some credibility to a Red Sox rotation that was a joke last season, while a trade for a player like Hanley Ramirez would instantly take the team’s defense down a few notches and the clubhouse morale even more.

Throwing objectivity out of the window, I would like to thank Marco Scutaro for a solid two seasons with the Red Sox. He was by far the best shortstop we’ve had since Nomar, and he could keep that title for a few more seasons. I will remember how he was one of the few players that went out and played his heart out last September while the rest of the team was falling apart around him. Enjoy Colorado, Marco.

Even opposing players bow down before Scutaro