It's End Of Error After Only Year
By Bob Ryan, Globe Columnist
December 09, 2005
Edgar, we hardly booed ye.
Well, that's not exactly true. Edgar Renteria did hear it from
the fans last
season. And he was nicknamed Edgar Rentawreck. If he ever writes his
memoirs, I
think we can safely say that the 2005 chapter will not be entitled "My
Favorite
Year."
So, who was that guy, anyway? Where was the ballplayer in whom
the Red Sox
were happy to invest as much as $48 million (had he gone into a
fifth-year club
option)? Where was the two-time Gold Glove shortstop? Where was the guy
of whom
Theo Epstein said the following barely one year ago?
"Normally, when you make a four-year commitment as a general
manager, you don
't sleep at night because you wonder, 'I hope this guy shows up to play
every
day.' This guy is so reliable that I slept very well."
Actually, that turned out to be the problem. Edgar Renteria did
show up
almost every day. He played in 153 of 162 games. Fans might have
preferred him
to show up for the nine and miss the other 153.
"He's going to show up and make us better, and be a big part of
this ball
club," Theo had said. One out of three ain't good, in this case.
But I have not come to flog Theo. I like Theo. But by dumping his
marquee
2004-05 offseason acquisition after one year, and swallowing $11
million in
walkaway money so Atlanta could take him, the Red Sox are the ones
dissing Theo
in a major way. And they may not be done purging themselves of Epstein
guys,
since we hear they have been offering Matt Clement to everyone but the
Hosmer
Chiefs.
More Theo from a year ago: "Edgar Renteria has proven himself to
be not only
one of the best shortstops in baseball, but [also] one of the most
complete
all-around players in the game. His blend of speed, power, defense,
durability,
and leadership make him a terrific addition to the ball club."
Sounds great. Who wouldn't want a player like that?
Since Nomar started going south two years ago - we're still
waiting to find
out how he hurt his Achilles' - the Red Sox have been working to get
this
shortstop thing right. Their first solution appeared to be The Answer.
Orlando
Cabrera was a great fielder and timely hitter. They couldn't have won
the World
Series without him. But, as luck would have it, they got him on a year
when his
contract was up.
He was looking for a big score and they were more inclined to
accentuate the
negative, claiming he wasn't a pitch-count kind of guy, and thus not
appropriate
long-range Red Sox material. Rather than signing the known quantity who
had
given them great service in the biggest games, they made the goo-goo
eyes at the
new pretty girl on the market.
Were the overall resumes comparable? No. Edgar Renteria was
perceived by
everyone, not just the Red Sox, as the superior player, someone who
would be
well worth the $40-plus million it would take to get his signature on a
four-year contract. He was going to come in and play a great shortstop
and he
would also be a perfect No. 2 hitter who, playing 81 games in Fenway,
might also
have a career power year. That was the assumption.
A year later, the judgment looks pretty bad. Last season,
Cabrera, playing
for the Angels, continued his gaudy fielding while coming up as big as
anyone on
his team in the postseason when they placed a bat in his hands.
Renteria got off
to a bad start, a really bad start, though he posted somewhat
Renteria-like
hitting numbers (not that the effect could be seen). He never found
himself in
the field.
This man, who won Gold Gloves in the National League in 2002 and
2003, had
veteran Red Sox observers going as far back as Don Buddin (of whom it
was once
written that "his license plate should be E-6") some 40 years ago to
find a
shortstop as inept. Renteria, who had 16 errors in 2003 and 11 errors
in 2004,
committed a career-high 30 errors in 2005, and in the mind's eye of the
faithful, there was hardly a one that wasn't damaging. Was there
perhaps some
kind of reverse Joe Hardy thing going on?
If it's permanent, the problem is now Atlanta's. But the Braves,
traditionally one of baseball's savviest organizations, clearly feel
that 2005
was one of those oddly aberrational years that sometimes infest the
careers of
good players (the Red Sox are making the same assumption about Mike
Lowell). As
good National Leaguers, they have warm memories of the Renteria that
was, as
opposed to the out-of-sorts fellow for whom everyone in Boston kept
waiting . .
. and waiting . . . and waiting to play even one week at an All-Star
level.
He could have been hurt, you know. He has a history of back
trouble, and that
could very well have accounted for his creakiness in the field. But if
we know
this, the Braves must also know it and they are ready to embrace him.
Did Renteria underestimate the intensity of baseball in Boston?
That could
have been the problem. They love their baseball in St. Louis, for sure,
but they
love it in a far different way than we do. They are, at heart,
forgiving
Midwesterners, not aggressive New Englanders, for whom baseball is not
so much a
pleasurable pastime as it is a family curse. Get this: The people in
St. Louis
actually go to the ballpark to have a good time, not to get in touch
with their
inner Cotton Mather.
Tony La Russa hinted that Edgar was far too sensitive to thrive
in this
diamond hothouse, didn't he? The Cardinals' skipper could have been
unable to
resist taking a gentle swipe at the team and town that had stolen his
shortstop,
or he could have been telling the gospel truth. If he was, then Atlanta
is a
great spot for Renteria. It will be June before someone even notices
that Rafael
Furcal is gone.
As for us, now we're being told Alex Gonzalez is the shortstop in
waiting. It
's OK, Alex, we don't bite.
(OK, so I lied.)
I would assume Theo's still sleeping well. But that's another
story.
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