Red Sox need backup shortstop

With the signing of Adrian Beltre and impending acquisition of Bill Hall, it seems that the Sox only have one thing left to do: dump Mike Lowell to bring in a backup shortstop.

Lowell is perhaps even more redundant with the acquisition of Hall, who can play third and has done so primarily for a while now. There are now four third basemen on the roster (Kevin Youkilis included).

What the team lacks is a viable backup shortstop. While Hall can play every position but catcher competently, he hasn’t tried his hand at short in three years — and thus shouldn’t be considered an option there. He figures to serve as the fifth outfielder and primary third base backup and likely first base as well. He also can appear at second base but is his position of least experience (assuming you sum all his outfield games).

Assuming that the team dumps Mike Lowell (who deserves a better fate and I feel should have a nice season in 2010 but it is what it is, and I can’t argue with the team’s decision), who can they bring in?

Assessing Boston’s shortstop options

With the departure of Alex Gonzalez to Toronto, it’s time to move on and explore what options are available to Boston to man the shortstop position in 2010 — and possibly beyond. I’ve gone through some potential free-agent and trade options and then tied it all in a neat little bow for consideration.

Internal options include Jed Lowrie and Jose Iglesias.

The free agent market has a bevy of options, but they all have their drawbacks. From Marco Scutaro to Adam Everett to Miguel Tejada to Craig Counsell — yes, Craig Counsell — we have you covered here.

Want to think trade? Stephen Drew, Cristian Guzman and Hanley Ramirez are considered.

Yeah, Hanley Ramirez. The New York Daily News has a note that the Marlins are talking to the Red Sox about a Hanley Ramirez trade.

The 2009 Shortstop Free Agent Market

One of the more pressing issues facing the Red Sox this offseason, the shortstop position can be considered the number two need for the team, behind the gaping hole in left field.

But shortstop may actually be the more challenging option of the two, as the position features few legitimate major league options to fill gaps.

As Evan outlined earlier, there are a bevy of quality left field options available on the market, headlined by Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, and Bobby Abreu but also including upside buys in Jermaine Dye and Rick Ankiel, as well as plenty of depth. Come December, no team will be left wanting for a left field option.

Teams seeking shortstops will not have this luxury, however. Cot’s Contracts lists just 12 free agent shortstops among this class; 2 of whom have club options. And, no, David Eckstein won’t be considered for the position either. He’s a second baseman now, can’t hit, and has a declining glove. Here are the candidates:

Guest Sunday: Looking back at the ‘04 Sox/Cards

Drew Silva, 22, contributes to Rotoworld.com, MLBTradeRumors.com and FanGraphs. Check him out on Twitter. Silva takes a look back at 2004, the season of salvation for the BoSox and revisits where the seminal players on the World Series teams are now…

7 names to watch for as Red Sox approach deadline

With the acquisition of Adam LaRoche and Chris Duncan, the Red Sox have made some aggressive moves to shore up their offense. With the moves, it is likely that the Sox are done acquiring anyone who primarily plays first and left field. Thus, Ryan Spilborghs and Josh Willingham have been removed from the list below outlining several names to keep an eye on. I’ve also removed Scott Rolen, as the LaRoche acquisition means we can give Lowell breaks and put Youkilis at third.

This leaves three more names to fill up to reach the 15 bats I promised in part one. I added one more bat, but for the other two names, I’ve gone ahead and slotted pitching in there, largely in response to this article in the Globe, which states the Sox probably have their hands in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes now given the recent pitching struggles of the Sox. I’m not sold on the chances of a big move, but the pitching has certainly got to a point where it’s not out of the realm of possibility to see a trade for a pitcher.

Five shortstops Red Sox could pursue

As Nick Green and Julio Lugo team up in an attempt to break the record for most errors out of shortstop (and we thought Edgar Renteria was bad), it’s time to start looking at outside options.

Green has been a great fill-in with the bat after no one expected him to even get a single at-bat on the year. On defense, however, his lead glove is starting to raise concerns. And Julio Lugo, of course, is Julio Lugo. We’ll get to our internal option, Jed Lowrie, in a moment. But for now, let’s focus on five shortstops the Sox could go after.

Green stellar at shortstop

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Red Sox’s play in recent days has been the productivity of Nick Green, the new starting shortstop.

And while he’s hitting .278/.350/.333, eons better than his 241/.310/.347 line, that’s not the story here. No, the story is his fielding.

It’s looking more and more like Green may be worthy of the bench spot all season long, or at least until Jed Lowrie returns (fingers crossed). Even if he can’t hit, his defense out of the infield is valuable.

TRIVIA: 4:06

Why is the starting time for Opening Day tomorrow specifically 4:06 PM? (And not, say, 4:00 or 4:05.)

I’m fed up with Julio Lugo

I tried. Honest, I did.
I tried to like him. I advocated signing him last year. He was the best option at the time.
Now it could be argued he’s the worst [...]

MLB Offseason Evaluations

I hate being mean…..
LaTroy Hawkins signs with Yankees for 1 year, $4 million

Hawkins is the first of a few moves the Yankees have to make in order to find a [...]