Tag Archives: Edgar Renteria

On Shortstops and Longshots

Now, I’m not saying that I “called” it or anything, but here’s a post I wrote back in January which seems to be pretty relevant right now. Just substitute “Shortstop” for “infielder,” and ignore the part where I describe Tejada as a decent hitter. I’ll just leave this here until a) we get a new shortstop, b) I get it together enough to write a new post. No word on which will happen first.

 

After what can only be described as a long, emotional, and ultimately fruitless negotiating session, Edgar Renteria has signed a contract with one of the 29 non-Giants baseball teams, the Cincinnati Reds. He’ll be earning 3 million for one year, and will probably start a good amount of the time, as Reds (and former-Giants) coach Dusty Baker has said that he’ll let Renteria and Paul Janish (.260/.339/.385) compete for playing time.

Congrats, Edgar, and more power to you. I appreciate the huge role you played in winning the World Series, and, well… not much else. Renteria was paid (note, I didn’t say “earned”) $10 million for a 2010 in which he was mostly injured, and $8 million for a 2009 in which he played like he was. If you’re an adherent to the “Perfect Storm” approach to the Giants 2010 championship season, in which every little thing added up to a World Series win and therefore must have contributed in some way, then sure, Renteria’s 7 hits in the World Series made up for his expensive contract and bad playing of the past two years. Never mind that he went 1-for-16 in the NLCS, but I digress. To me, Renteria falls into the same category as Bengie Molina. I appreciate his service, but we’re both better off since we parted ways.

Thanks, Edgar, but don’t call us. We’ll call you.

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