No defense for latest move

November 28, 2009|Bob Ryan, Globe Columnist

Here’s one thing we can say about Alex Gonzalez.

The ball is hit to short and you can write “6-3’’ in your scorebook without looking up. It’s a done deal.

So why won’t he be here next year? Did anyone ask the pitchers what they think?

Instead of Alex Gonzalez and the sure 6-3s, we will have a familiar player at short next year. Mr. X.

Mr. X might be Marco Scutaro or Khalil Greene or even Jed Lowrie (if he ever cures his wrist woes), or it could be someone off our radar screen entirely. But it’s doubtful Mr. X will be as soothing to the psyche of the pitchers as Alex Gonzalez, who was the best 162-game defensive shortstop I’ve ever seen in a Red Sox uniform back in 2006 and who wasn’t far from that status during the 44 games he played here in 2009. There’s a lot to be said for relaxing 6-3s, not to mention efficient 6-4-3s and 4-6-3s.

Shortstop is general manager Theo Epstein’s Achilles’ heel, his Black Hole, his annual source of confusion and occasional embarrassment. He hasn’t gotten it right for more than one full season since his bold decision to ship Nomar Garciaparra out of town on July 31, 2004. Gonzalez gave him that aforementioned stellar defensive season in 2006. Aside from that, Theo has had zero luck.

There was, of course, nothing wrong with the way Orlando Cabrera played for the Red Sox, either during the months of August and September or during the playoffs in 2004. He was 29 years old and appeared to be The Answer at short for many years to come. But the Red Sox did not seem too upset about losing him to the Angels via free agency, the only reason anyone could come up with being unspecified off-the-field, shall we say, indiscretions

Theo next addressed the shortstop situation by wooing Edgar Renteria away from the St. Louis Cardinals for a hefty $10 million per. Tony La Russa warned everyone that Renteria and Boston might not be a good fit because Edgar was way too sensitive to thrive in the hothouse atmosphere of Boston, and, indeed, all of New England.

Playing for the Cardinals is akin to being back in high school. You get unconditional fan love as long as you wear the uniform with the Cardinals teeter-tottering on the baseball bat. We all know there is no such thing here. Some people (e.g. Big Papi) are allowed to bank an enormous amount of good will to insulate them during the hard times, but most players who play here know the normal deal is that people take things seriously and, worse yet, personally on a day-to-day basis.