Well, first and foremost, Nomar Garciaparra deserves the chance to continue showing the Dodgers he can handle short, which I believe, if he can stay healthy, he can.
However, we do know how injury prone Nomar is. It is not out of the realm of possibility that Nomar could find his way back to the DL by the end of the season, and if he does, we don't have any real good solutions at short.
Recently, a lot of talk centered around the Dodgers trading for Jack Wilson from the Pirates. I don't hate the idea as far as Wilson the player, but from what I've heard, Wilson likes the Pirates and the Pirates like Wilson so they aren't too willing to part with him. And that means if we want him, we can't just ship them any nobody and they send us Wilson as a salary dump. We'd need to send them something of value, and I definitely don't think the Dodgers should give up any real value for Jack Wilson.
Also, yesterday, Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com noted in his game recap:
"After hearing constant rumors during the day that he was headed home to Detroit in exchange for Tigers shortstop Edgar Renteria, Lowe focused on outdueling Tim Hudson in a 2-1 win over the Braves..."After hearing about a really bad possible trade with Cleveland that was vetoed a few days ago, now there's news of this. Again, what a ridiculous trade. How would giving up a solid part of our starting rotation for a shortstop who has not been hitting well at all this year help us? Would Renteria really help us win more games than Derek Lowe would? If we trade Derek Lowe, we are basically saying we are out of it and not looking to make the playoffs this year, and if that's the case, trade him for a good prospect, not a declining, older shortstop.
MLB.com has a section devoted to the trading block, and one specifically dedicated to middle infielders.
Here are some options I'd look at if we were to try and pick up a shortstop:
There is also David Eckstein. I like him as a player, but he's not great, and he's probably not a long term solution. However, he could be probably be gotten pretty cheaply. There is a question as to how much he has left but he might be worth a shot if it doesn't cost us much.
Cristian Guzmán is having a great season, and is still fairly young. The page says the Nationals might try to negotiate an extension with him, but if they feel they can't they might trade him. The Nationals, however, are one of those teams that enjoy building up themselves with prospects, so they might ask for a good amount from us for him.
The page also mentions Juan Uribe. I think Colletti tried getting Uribe before Berroa. He's not too bad. He's hit for power in the past, but he's got a pretty low average. He's pretty good defensively, and the page says that might be enough for the White Sox to keep him.
Also, Felipe Lopez. The page says he's making 4.9 million this year. He had one good year in 2005 and hasn't come close since, he's got ok speed. I think I'd only take him if he came really cheap.
Finally, from the page, Bill Hall. His stats have been sagging since his great year in 2006 so that might make him cheaper to come by, but I don't care for his complaining over playing time. There is also the question of if he can play ss, he hasn't since 2006, though he has been playing some infield this season. He still might cost a pretty penny, and I'm not sure if it's worth it for the Dodgers.
Now, thinking outside the box a little bit, there are two other options the page didn't mention. There is an issue however, and that is that they are both from NL West teams and there always seems to be an issue trading within the division.
In any case, the Rockies have four players who can all play in the middle infield positions: Clint Barmes, Troy Tulowitzki, Ian Stewart, and Omar Quintanilla. Quintanilla isn't too good a hitter, and the Rockies are high on Stewart and Tulowitzki, so I see Barmes as an option. He had a good year in 2005, has struggled a little since, but is making a good comeback this year, and is still young enough to be a long term solution at short for us. There is the question, though, of how much it will cost us and if we are willing to deal within the division.
Another idea from in the division might be Khalil Greene from San Diego. He's under performing this year, and many in San Diego are losing patience with him, which could make him a cheaper pickup. He's solid defensively, and can hit for some power, even in ridiculous Petco Park. The main issue is that the Padres don't have anyone to replace him. Therefore, we'd need a package that included a replacement ss for them, and we don't necessarily have that. We could offer them someone like Berroa or Maza just so they'd have someone (anyone) to play shortstop, but we'd need to give them a good prospect as the real meat of the trade, or possibly Chin-lung Hu and another prospect.
Ultimately, I want to see how well Nomar can still handle shortstop. So far, he's done well. The question is: for how long? The big dilemna comes around July 31st. If Nomar is still healthy, should we gamble and assume he can make it the rest of the season, or play it safe and add another shortstop? That's for Colletti to decide. And that worries me a little...
