Free Agents to Avoid, Part 1
This may be a difficult notion to consider after witnessing a team who hastily signed three Type A free agents win the World Series, but given the superiority of the 2011 free agent class over this one, it may be wise for the Red Sox to exercise some fiscal responsibility in the coming winter months.
I’ll identify a couple of names that may be tantalizing, but aren’t worth the money they are seeking.
1) Marco Scutaro – SS
Yes, the Red Sox have a gaping, bleeding wound between second base and third base. This wound is best treated with cheap gauze, not fool’s gold.
Scutaro had a pretty good season in 2009 while playing shortstop for the Blue Jays. The problem is, Marco has a long track record of sub-par play before his one good year, and he turned 34 last month. Scutaro is likely seeking a 3 year deal, which means the Sox would be paying him until his 37th birthday. Not to mention, he’s a Type A free agent, so the Sox would lose their first round draft pick to division rival Toronto.
Well, you tell me. Which of the seasons below seems like an outlier?
| Year | Age | OPS+ |
| 2004 | 28 | 79 |
| 2005 | 29 | 85 |
| 2006 | 30 | 96 |
| 2007 | 31 | 88 |
| 2008 | 32 | 88 |
| 2009 | 33 | 111 |
Also, here’s some trivia. Can you name the full-time 35-year-old shortstops in the majors last year? There were 2. Hint: one plays on the Yankees, and he should have been moved to left field 3 years ago. The other plays for the Astros, and has supplemented his durability with lots and lots of…er… “Vitamin b-12 shots”…cough cough. Both are likely Hall of Famers. Do we think Scutaro the type of player who will be joining this prestigious group?
Hey, I’ll propose another free agent idea for shortstop.
This guy has career averages of .277/.340/.402, similar to Scutaro’s. His career OPS+ is 92, exactly the same as Scutaro’s. His UZR is about even, similar to Scutaro’s. This guy even manages to steal bases, and is 3 years younger than Scutaro. Sounds good right? Sign him to a long-term deal, right?
Who is that player? His name is Julio Lugo, circa December 2006. No need to make the same mistake twice.
Throw a 1 year deal at Alex Gonzalez (the devil we know), and see what Jose Iglesias and Yamaico Navarro do in the minor leagues. Iglesias is currently hitting .277/.329/.431 in the Arizona Fall League, and Navarro will be repeating AA Portland this season, and could be looking at a mid-season promotion to AAA if he storms out of the gate early.
To be continued…
[...] days, the talk of the town surrounds Marco Scutaro. I voiced my stance on him here, and as more time passes I become more and more convinced that he is poison. A guy in his mid [...]
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