39.5 Checking the Locks: Shortstop

[crobillard]

This is a series where I will evaluate the options in each position leading into Spring Training. This is the fifth of eleven parts. I will be taking a look into the shortstop position in this post.

Sure fire locks: Joey O'Brien
Trying to get in the door: Jorge Guillen

O'Brien was acquired in a trade with Louisville at the start of the offseason. At first I want him to be a replacement for Fernando Martinez at short. When I found it difficult to trade Martinez due to his big contract, I started to like the idea, defensively, of O'Brien and Martinez in the middle of the infield. That combination is going to be a big help to my infield defense which struggled at times last season. On top of his really good defense, O'Brien swings a good bat. Last year he batted .289/.336/.384 with 37 doubles. Certainly not stellar, but for someone who is so good defensively, his bat is really strong.

Another prospect we will take a long look at in the spring is Guillen. He is definitely the defensive specialist archetype with a poor bat, but he hits LHP better and once he sees time outside of short he has the tools to learn almost any position pretty quickly. He may end up filling the void left from George Bluth's departure this offseason and Guillen may actually be able to hit lefties which is always a sought after skill. Despite his skills, he's probably a long shot to make the roster when there are other AAAA guys that were invited to spring training with better bats, even if there are few with better gloves.