Renteria Not A Good Fit, Either

I would rather the Sox not sign Renteria for a couple reasons.

The first is that every aspect of Renteria's offensive game fell off a bit last season. His batting average went down (from .330 to .287), and so did his walks (from 65 to 39) and power numbers (61 extra-base hits down to 47). He also struck out more (78 in ’04, up from 58) and stole half as many bases (falling from 34 to 17).

Renteria was still a terrific defensive shortstop, but I don't think you pay a guy $11 million per year because he's good with the glove. If that's all you want from a SS, you might as well sign Pokey Reese for about a million dollars. For that much money, a guy has to hit a little, and I'm not sure Renteria will keep hitting like he did in 02-03.

The second, and maybe more important reason, is that the Sox have Juan Uribe. Uribe hit a lot last year, and he's proven in the past that he's every bit as good as Renteria defensively, if not better. I think it's time the Sox commit to him.

Besides, I'd rather see that money go to a great pitcher, with enough money for an OK pitcher in the No. 5 spot. The Sox have given away so many games the past few years because they've had such bad fifth starters. I think the Sox can make a lot of progress in the standings just by finding a league-average pitcher for that spot (or by finding a guy that would push Garland to that spot).