Life After Eckstein

StL Dan · Post by **StL Dan** » April 26 07, 3:46 pm

skmsw wrote:
StL Dan wrote:Would Renteria even be the subject of discussion if he weren't having a nice April, thus far?
Well, he did have a pretty nice 2006, too, you know.

Slow start, but a good year overall, I suppose.

greenback44 · Post by **greenback44** » April 26 07, 3:46 pm

Kyle wrote:
greenback44 wrote:A 97 OPS+ is fine for a shortstop, especially one who was playing everyday at the age of 20 (maybe even 19).
Definitely. He'll give you a VORP in the range of 20.0 or so. Can you make a case for a shortstop with that type of production making 10 million? Possibly / probably.

But do you want to give it to a guy who is 32 (and likely to be in decline, as a result)?

And they're not going to give him away, so do you really want to give up legitimate prospects in the process?

The culmination of all of this leads me to a simple answer: "no.".

I'm not a big fan of the ER idea, but the problem here is that there aren't any good shortstops available in free agency. So either the shortstop position will stink for the foreseeable future, or you're going to have give something of value up (or you hope Jose Oquendo decides Braden Looper would be a decent shortstop). Renteria is probably the best realistic 2008 shortstop. He plays for a team that has a much firmer "budget" than most, and which also has a couple of viable pre-arb alternatives.

It's a hold-your-nose-scenario. But I don't see any other scenario that doesn't require some nose-holding.

jim · Post by **jim** » April 26 07, 4:26 pm

Here's hoping Brendan Ryan can put it together.

Richie Allen · Post by **Richie Allen** » April 26 07, 4:30 pm

You'd have a tough time arguing that a team cannot win with Eckstein at short.

skmsw · Post by **skmsw** » April 26 07, 4:33 pm

StL Dan wrote:
skmsw wrote:
StL Dan wrote:Would Renteria even be the subject of discussion if he weren't having a nice April, thus far?
Well, he did have a pretty nice 2006, too, you know.
Slow start, but a good year overall, I suppose.

Slow start?!? He had a 952 OPS in April 2006!

.365/.412/.540 = .952

He flat out had a very solid year in 2006:

.293/.361/.436 = .797

And is off to a good start again now:

AVG .318 | HR 3 | RBI 13 | OBP .389 | SLG .482 = 861 OPS

GatewaySnayke · Post by **GatewaySnayke** » April 27 07, 10:07 am

Steverino, where do you stand? Let the position continue to stink, or try to take a stab at someone like Renteria?

BW23 · Post by **BW23** » April 27 07, 10:22 am

Again, why would Renteria even be remotely available?

greenback44 · Post by **greenback44** » April 27 07, 10:24 am

BW23 wrote:Again, why would Renteria even be remotely available?

Because the Braves have two guys to replace him, saving a ton of money.

BW23 · Post by **BW23** » April 27 07, 10:33 am

They might save a ton of money, but he's a bargain. They'll be saving a ton of money when they don't bring back Jones.

They need to keep Renteria more than replace him. And whatever it would take to get him in a trade certainly isn't worth it.

greenback44 · Post by **greenback44** » April 27 07, 10:37 am

BW23 wrote:They might save a ton of money, but he's a bargain. They'll be saving a ton of money when they don't bring back Jones.

The two aren't mutually exclusive.

They need to keep Renteria more than replace him. And whatever it would take to get him in a trade certainly isn't worth it.

I don't think you can dismiss the threat of Aaron Miles or Brendan Ryan getting 500 at-bats that easily.