Will Boston’s Revolving Door At Shortstop Continue?

In his comprehensive piece on Red Sox shortstop prospects, Conor Duffy recently ran down Xander Bogaerts, Jose Iglesias, Deven Marrero and Jose Vinicio options. Give it a read. It’s well done. Which brings me to my point. Who is really going to play shortstop for the Red Sox in 2013?

September 26, 2012; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman

(top) forces out Tampa Bay Rays third baseman

(3) at second base during the second inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-US PRESSWIRE

With all due respect, for a multitude of reasons, none in the quartet listed above are up to the full-time rigors of one of baseball’s most demanding positions, at least in 2013. Bogaerts is still physically maturing and will soon outgrow the position. Iglesias may someday – someday – be Boston’s shortstop but in the modern era a human vacuum that nevertheless bats his hat size doesn’t stand a chance of hacking it long-term.  Both Marrero and Vinicio are currently nearly carbon copies of Iglesias so it appears Boston has a bit of a bland pool. Let’s shake this up.

"Pedro Ciriaco has some sizzle and can bring home the bacon if he learns some plate discipline."

When he made a splash mid-season 2012 against the Yankees, Ciriaco smoked, stroked and raked. His strong arm and range are pluses in the hole and up the middle. Not a lot of people talk about him as Boston’s 2013 every day shortstop. I think his play last year puts him squarely in the conversation. Another strong spring will put pressure on John Farrell to keep him in the lineup.

With the likes of Jason Bartlett, Yuniesky Betancourt and Johnny Peralta at the top of the free agent class, it’s easy to see that the shortstop free agent market is paper thin. Going out and finding a solid replacement to fill the hole that Mike Aviles plugged during a surprisingly solid 2012 won’t happen. Hey, Marco Scutaro is a free agent. Oh wait. Never mind.

If Ciriaco can put an end to the shortstop conversation for the time being with strong field play and more consistent, less free-wheeling at bats he could provide some stability to a revolving door that otherwise will continue to spin.

Since 2004, the Red Sox have had 29 different shortstops. Here’s the breakdown by year and number of games in which they appeared.

2004
Pokey Reese 56
Orlando Cabrera 58
Nomar Garciaparra 37
Cesar Crespo 7
Ricky Gutierrez 3
Mark Bellhorn 1

2005
Edgar Renteria 150
Ramon Vazquez 6
Alex Cora 5
Mark Bellhorn 1

2006
Alex Gonzalez 110
Alex Cora 47
Dustin Pedroia 5

2007
Julio Lugo 139
Alex Cora 22
Royce Clayton 1

2008
Julio Lugo 79
Jed Lowrie 45
Alex Cora 38

2009
Nick Green 74
Alex Gonzalez 43
Julio Lugo 27
Jed Lowrie 18

2010
Marco Scutaro 131
Jed Lowrie 21
Yamaico Navarro 6
Bill Hall 3
Angel Sanchez 1

2011
Marco Scutaro 102
Jed Lowrie 47
Mike Aviles 6
Drew Sutton 4
Yamaico Navarro 2
Jose Iglesias 1

2012:
Mike Aviles 128
Jose Iglesias 24
Pedro Ciriaco 12
Nick Punto, 6
Ivan De Jesus 1

Oh it’s simple, all the pain that you go through
You can turn away from fortune, fortune, cause that’s all that’s left to you
It’s lonely at the bottom, man, it’s dizzy at the top
But if you’re standing in the middle, ain’t no way you’re gonna stop
– In Through The Out Door, Led Zeppelin