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Scoot over, Boston by Jared Carrabis
Red Sox sign Marco Scutaro to two-year deal w/ option

Shortstop number 18, come on down!

It was late last night when reports began to leak that the Red Sox had agreed to terms with free agent shortstop, Marco Scutaro. The deal was completed when the 34-year-old completed a physical here in Boston on Friday morning.

There were multiple reports of what the terms of the deal would be, but on Friday morning, ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted that Scutaro would be paid $5 million in 2010, another $5 million in 2011 and similar to Jason Varitek's previous contract, the Red Sox hold a $6 million club option for 2012, while Scutaro holds a $3 million player option for the same year. The deal also includes a $1 million signing bonus and a $1.5 million buyout after two years.

The Red Sox will forfeit their first round draft pick to the Toronto Blue Jays, as Scutaro qualified for Type A free agent status. However, he is not highly ranked among other Type A free agents that the Red Sox have been linked to. If the Red Sox were to sign Matt Holliday, John Lackey, Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez or Jose Valverde, their first round pick would go to the former team of the free agent listed above in which they signed.

I'd like to compare three shortstops who were available at the start of the offseason and we'll cover up the names so that you, as a fan, can put your bias aside.

2009:
Player A: .238, .279 OBP, .355 SLG, 8 HR, 41 RBI. .984 Fld%
Player B: .313, .340 OBP, .455 SLG, 14 HR, 86 RBI. .970 Fld%
Player C: .282, .379 OBP, .409 SLG, 12 HR, 60 RBI. .984 Fld%

2009 notes:
-Player A was traded and hit .284 with his new club and made just one error in 44 games. He was not offered arbitration.
-Player B led the league in doubles with 46, was selected to the All Star team and finished 23rd in the MVP voting. He was not offered arbitration.
-Player C scored 100 runs in 2009 and is a Type A free agent.

Career:
Player A: 11 seasons: .247, 114 HR, 521 RBI .689 OPS, .970 Fld%
Player B: 13 seasons: .289, 285 HR, 1,185 RBI, .810 OPS, .971 Fld%
Player C: 8 seasons: .265, 50 HR, 294 RBI, .721 OPS, .977 Fld%

Career notes:
-Player A was an All Star in 1999
-Player B has played in all 162 games in six consecutive seasons, has played in at least 158 games in 10 of 12 full seasons, six-time All Star, finished in top 23 in MVP voting eight times, including winning the award once
-Player C was never voted to an All Star team, never led the league in any offensive statistical category and has never batted over .300 in his career.

Well, the numbers are right there for you. What was your pick? Theo Epstein picked Player C (Marco Scutaro), let Player A (Alex Gonzalez) walk to the Blue Jays and didn't even entertain the idea of bringing in Player B (Miguel Tejada) to Boston. After taking a peak at those numbers and notes, it doesn't make too much sense as to why they didn't pursue Tejada more aggressively.

The age excuse would make sense if Scutaro wasn't in the same neighborhood age-wise, but they're very close in age. The only explanation that I can come up with is that Epstein has learned his lesson for knowingly bringing on board players linked to performance enhancing drugs after an email exchange with Red Sox scout Marc DelPiano leaked into the Mitchell Report.

And I quote, "Have you done any digging on Gagne? I know the Dodgers think he was a steroid guy. Maybe so. What do you hear on his medical?" This was in 2006 when Gagne was a free agent, but as we all know, he would later end up in Boston via trade in 2007.

In that same Mitchell Report, Tejada was listed among the accused as having received $1,500 worth of steroids. In 2009, he was charged with lying to Congress about the use of steroids in the MLB and in 2005, Jose Canseco refers to Tejada in his book Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. Also, at the beginning of the 2008 season, it was revealed that Tejada was actually two years older than he had claimed to be throughout his entire major league career. So, it make sense that Theo would want to avoid such a controversial player, regardless of his offensive production.

Regardless, there's no use in protesting now that the ink is dry, but I just had to make my point. In my opinion, Tejada was the more logical option, due to the fact that he would not have cost the Red Sox a draft pick and also because his offensive numbers were better. I won't stand here and knock Scutaro, because he is a fine baseball player, but with all due respect to Mr. Epstein, the Red Sox lacked offense last season, which ultimately led to their three and out in October.

There was a better offensive shortstop available, and the Red Sox chose to go the defensive-minded rout. There's nothing wrong with that. Great defense takes runs away from the other team, which is just as good as giving a run to your own team. However, Scutaro's defensive numbers weren't drastically better than Tejada's, which leaves me scratching my head.

Nonetheless, this wasn't a long-term commitment to Scutaro, as the Red Sox hope that the former Blue Jay will help build the bridge to the shortstop of the future, Jose Iglesias. Scutaro does have a mutual option for a third year in his deal, which the Red Sox could potentially bring him back and Iglesias to the big leagues at the same time. Scutaro would be a great mentor to Iglesias, as the young shortstop eases his way into a comfortable transition into Major League Baseball.

Overall, I can compare this signing to a Christmas present. Say, for example, you ask for a Razor scooter for Christmas because all the kids at school have one. You open up a big box on Christmas morning expecting a Razor scooter to be there, but it's the Toys R Us brand scooter. Eh, who cares. A scooter is still a scooter. You definitely could have gotten a better scooter, but this one will still get the job done.

-Jared Carrabis

To order Jared's debut book, One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, click HERE!