Braves 'Delighted' To Land Renteria
Jorge Arangure Jr., Washington Post Staff Writer
December 09, 2005
Perhaps Atlanta Braves General Manager John Schuerholz really did
have to
catch a plane Thursday afternoon, forcing him to leave the news
conference
announcing his acquisition of shortstop Edgar Renteria from the Boston
Red Sox
after only three questions. Or maybe it was simply that Schuerholz
wanted to get
out of Texas before the Red Sox changed their minds.
To get Renteria and $14 million from the Red Sox, the Braves
gave up one top
prospect, third baseman Andy Marte. Now the Braves, who watched
shortstop Rafael
Furcal sign a three-year, $39 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers
only a
few days ago, will pay only $18 million of the $29 million owed to
Renteria, a
four-time all-star, for the next three seasons. The Red Sox are also
responsible
for a $3 million buyout for the 2009 season.
"With the loss of Rafael Furcal, our shortstop for many years,
we had a
significant hole to fill, a gap to fill, and we believe we've done that
with a
real classy, real talented, as I said, four-time, all-star shortstop,"
Schuerholz said. "So we're delighted by that."
The Red Sox are likely to sign free agent shortstop Alex
Gonzalez, though
many wondered whether they would consider signing ex-Red Sox Nomar
Garciaparra.
Renteria, 30, was the most sought-after free agent shortstop
last offseason,
signing a four-year, $40 million deal with the Red Sox. But he hit just
.276
with eight home runs and had a baseball-worst 30 errors.
It appears the Baltimore Orioles have had serious conversations
with many
teams but a deal for a significant player may be unlikely because of a
reluctance to trade any of their young starting pitching.
Baltimore has had numerous conversations with the Texas Rangers,
who have a
surplus of outfielders and are looking for pitching. But one American
League
source said the talks have gone nowhere because Baltimore told the
Rangers that
pitcher Hayden Penn, 21, is untouchable. The Orioles might be able to
convince
Texas to take Bruce Chen or Rodrigo Lopez.
"The cost of replacing a pitcher is so high, it would be
difficult to trade
one of our pitchers," Orioles Vice President Jim Duquette said.
The Orioles came close to acquiring Minnesota Twins reliever
J.C. Romero,
according to one team source, but those talks have stalled and it's
believed the
left-hander will likely land with the Seattle Mariners.
Duquette said Baltimore has some interest in free agent closer
Braden Looper
but may try to trade for a reliever.
There have been some talks of sending catcher Javy Lopez to the
Toronto Blue
Jays for pitcher Miguel Batista and third baseman Eric Hinske, but
neither team
seems prepared to get serious about the deal any time soon.
The signing of catcher Ramon Hernandez will be announced early
next week.
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