Bang For Your Buck

Remember that shortstop trade carousel that occurred two seasons ago? David Eckstein to St. Louis from Anaheim, Edgar Renteria to Boston from St. Louis, Orlando Cabrera to Anaheim from Boston. Last season, the first with their new teams, little Davy Eckstein shined the brightest and both Renteria and Cabrera had significant production dropoffs. At the time of the trade, the popular choice as loser in the deal was the Cardinals, having lost a perennial All-Star and Gold Glove. However, Eckstein is currently making a bid for his second all-star start in a row and having another great season. I thought it may be fun to check in on how all three are doing this season, especially after casting my all-star vote for Renteria after he has returned to his old form for the Atlanta Braves. The key value in my mind is the difference in salaries as Eckstein came cheap but at high end results. (The departure of Renteria also allowed more money to keep other key players.) I'll point out that a third ex-Red Sox shortstop, Nomar Garciaparra, is having a tremendous season while Boston's current SS, Alex Gonzalez, is hitting .260 with an OBP of .308. Props to Theo Epstein, but he doesn't know a potentially talented shortstop when he sees one.