Renteria dealt to Braves

12/08/2005
DALLAS -- The reshaping of the Red Sox continued on Thursday with a major move, as the club shipped shortstop Edgar Renteria and cash considerations to the Braves for highly-touted third-base prospect Andy Marte.
Less than a year after signing Renteria to a four-year, $40 million pact, the Red Sox decided to part ways with the three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner.
Renteria, except for brief spurts, never seemed to get in a groove during his only season with the Red Sox. He hit .276 with 100 runs, eight homers and 70 RBIs while committing a career-high 30 errors.
According to multiple sources, the Red Sox will pay $11 million of the $32 million that Renteria is still owed, which includes $3 million from the signing bonus and a $3 million buyout if the shortstop's option for 2009 is not picked up by Atlanta.
"It's part of baseball today," said Red Sox special advisor/baseball operations Bill Lajoie. "It's something we don't want to make a habit of doing, but in this case, we felt like the risk was worth [the reward]."
Instead of focusing on what went wrong with Renteria, the Red Sox accentuated how fortunate they were to gain player with as much promise as Marte.
"We did lose Hanley Ramirez in the [Josh Beckett] trade, he was our No. 1 [prospect]," said Lajoie. "So we've acquired a ready player for the Major Leagues -- in our opinion, he is ready to go. At 21, he was an established Triple-A player. As the Braves' scouting director put it, if he was in the draft this June, he would be the No. 1 player selected, so that speaks pretty well for Andy Marte."
The big question with Marte is where he fits into the club's 2006 plans. While Marte could conceivably be the third baseman of the future in Boston, the Red Sox have Mike Lowell under contract for the next two seasons.
The Red Sox have a vacancy at first base, and could possibly lose left fielder Manny Ramirez in a trade or center fielder Johnny Damon to free agency, so there could be outfield openings as well.
"Right now, we do see him as a future third baseman," said Lajoie. "I would like to see him get into the lineup, and if it has to be as an outfielder, we may discuss that with him when we do talk to him, just for the first year. Just to get his bat in the lineup."
A Dominican Republic native, the 22-year-old Marte, who hits and throws right-handed, has belted 20 homers in the Minor Leagues in three of the last four years. He was ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the International League in 2005.
The move puts a huge question mark on who will play shortstop for the Red Sox in 2005.
But as Lajoie pointed out earlier this week, the Red Sox don't need to field a starting nine until April.
According to Lajoie, who has essentially been acting as Boston's general manager while the club searches for a new one, the Sox are more likely to acquire a free agent shortstop than trade for one.
One of the most seasoned candidates of a fairly thin shortstop market is Royce Clayton, who hit .270 with two homers and 44 RBIs for the Diamondbacks in 2005.
"I've talked to the Red Sox about Royce over the last few days," said Greg Genske, who represents Clayton. "It's certainly possible that they're going to be making him an offer. At this stage of his career, he wants to play for a competitive team."
Other free agents shortstops are Pokey Reese, Alex Gonzalez (Marlins), Alex Gonzalez (Devil Rays) and Nomar Garciaparra. While Garciaparra's name is sure to pique the interest of any Red Sox fan, Lajoie said his name has not been discussed in the team's internal discussions for a new shortstop. There's a strong possibility Garciaparra will play another position in 2006 for whichever team he signs with.
Marte has long been considered one of the top prospects in the highly-rated Braves farm system. He hit .275 with 20 homers and 74 RBIs for Triple-A Richmond this past season. In 57 at-bats with Atlanta last season, he hit .140.
Already this offseason, the Red Sox have landed potential ace Josh Beckett and Gold Glove winner Lowell from the Marlins and second baseman Mark Loretta from the Padres.
From their team of a year ago, the Sox have subtracted, among others, first baseman Kevin Millar, left-handed reliever Mike Myers, backup catcher Doug Mirabelli and Renteria. Bill Mueller is also all but certain to be gone and the status of Damon remains in limbo.
The team could still undergo further transformation, as Ramirez and veteran left-hander David Wells have requested trades.
Intriguingly, the Red Sox have undergone this transformation without an acting general manager, as Theo Epstein stepped down from his post on Oct. 31 and the baseball operations staff has operated under a committee scenario since then.
It remains an enigma why Renteria, a polished veteran, had such a tough time getting acclimated to playing in Boston. The perception was that he was uncomfortable in such a pressurized market, but Jeffrey Lane, who represents Renteria, feels that was not the case.
"I think any reports that he was nervous or this or that, I really don't think that was the case," Lane said. "I just think he got off slow there and his defense didn't come like it usually does. And as far as his offensive numbers, he still scored 100 runs and had 70 RBIs, so it wasn't as bad. In my conversations with him, I never heard anything about the pressure, or, 'I don't like the fans,' or anything like that."
In making the deal, Braves general manager John Schuerholz was confident Renteria would return to the All-Star form he displayed for so long in St. Louis.
"We were aware of [the 2005 dropoff], of course, but we looked at him in his time in the National League and feel like when he gets back to the National league, in Atlanta, we believe that the Renteria of old will resurface and that's the player we'll have," said Schuerholz. "He's still a young guy with a lot of productive years ahead of him, we believe."
The 30-year-old Renteria is a .288 career hitter with 91 homers and 635 RBIs in 1,449 games.
As for Marte, he is playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, and Sox scouts returned with positive reports to Lajoie.
"This is a throwback type of third baseman," Lajoie said. "This is the power corner player that you hope will hit 25 or 30 homers on a consistent basis when he does play in the Major Leagues. This is the big guy with power, strong arm, good hands. I don't want to compare him to any in the past, but you know the type I'm talking about. That's traditionally been a power position."

Source: http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/