Renteria Struggling With Red Sox
CBC Sports
May 25, 2005
When general manager Theo Epstein began retooling the World Series champion Boston Red Sox over the winter, slick-fielding Orlando Cabrera was deemed expendable.
The apple of Epstein's eye, Edgar Renteria, had just completed a fourth all-star season and was the owner of two Gold Glove awards as baseball's top-fielding shortstop.
But the 29-year-old has been a disappointment through the first quarter of this season after signing a four-year, $40 million US free-agent contract with Boston.
Renteria enters Wednesday night's game against the hometown Toronto Blue Jays with a .245 batting average - he's never hit below .260 in any of his previous nine seasons - two home runs, 14 runs batted in and two stolen bases in 40 games.
That puts the former St. Louis Cardinal and Florida Marlin on pace for seven homers, 52 RBIs and seven steals. Last season, Renteria helped St. Louis to the National League Central pennant with a .287 average, 10 dingers, 72 RBIs and 17 stolen bases.
Defensively, Renteria is 18th in the majors with a .952 fielding percentage compared to .991 for Cabrera, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim during the off-season.
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