Theo and Shortstop's

In 03 and 04, Theo made some brilliant moves, picking up Walker, Mueller, Millar, Ortiz, Schilling  Foulke, and others. The best might have been having the courage to trade Nomar at the right time, for Cabrera.  Orlando settled things down and played a huge part in the 04 Championship.  Then, Theo,or management, undid the great move by letting Cabrera walk. Had Orlando been kept, he would have given the team years of professional play at the position. He would have brought a solid bat that would have been even better at Fenway.  He would have averaged 40 doubles a  year playing against the Monster  . And, he is still going stong today.   Daniel Bard turned out to be the compensation for Cabrera.  This was a stroke of good fortune that  scouts were able to unearth Bard.   But even having Bard today does not measure up to the value Cabrera would have provided over the last 6 years . His hitting would have been better still, if he had played at Fenway. Figure on 40 doubles a year as he could reach the Monster easily. At least 20 more HR's over his career . Signing him long term would have prevented the Merry go round of SS's we have seen since and  would have saved the team millions in paying other players to play for other teams.  ie: Renteria and Lugo.  I think Theo saw Renteira on the FA mkt and decided that he was the better player then Cabrera, which he was.  Based on that thinking, losing Cabrera would not have been so bad.   But after giving up on Edgar after one year, Theo erred once again, costing the team millions.  Renteria, in 05, while adjusting to a new league and the Fenway infield, did commit alot of errors.  He still knocked in 70 runs, scored 100, had 39 doubles, and batted .270. Those numbers would have been much better in the years that followed, had the fans left him alone, and  management, or Theo did not lose confidence in this 2000 hit plus SS.  It would have atoned for the Cabrera mistake .  Instead, he was run out of town where he continued his fine career.  One of the great clutch hitters,,he delivered two Series clinching hits for other teams, and is still going stong . Shippng out Renteria led to an even worse fiasco.  Julio Lugo . I liked Lugo, but once he got to the Sox, he was not the same player, although he was the SS for the 07 champions.  He was let go, with the Sox again, paying the rest of his contract.  Bad move in letting Cabrera go,but would have been shrewd had he kept Renteria.   Good move to get Cabrera.  Bad move to let him go.  Good move getting Renteria, terribble move letting him go.  Worse still, was paying his big contract to play for the Braves.  Lugo was just a bad move that cost the team millions.  Even today, the SS position is unsettled.  Iglesius can't hit, and Scutaro is to injury prone.  Lets hope they don't continue the SS shuttle out of town game by giving up on Lowrie.