According to Bleacher Report, the "hot . . . tepid rumor in town" has the Red Sox pursuing Jason Bartlett to play shortstop.
Really?
On one hand, it makes sense: The Sox, after sending Marco Scutaro to Colorado in what was widely seen as a salary dump, have a hole at shortstop that the two-headed monster of Nick Punto and Mike Aviles isn't likely to fill. Bartlett's been placed on the market by the Padres. Perfect fit.
Except Bartlett's 2012 salary of 5.5 million isn't that much less than Scutaro's 6 million. So if you got rid of Scutaro to save money . . . where's the savings?
When Scutaro was dealt, the pundits all speculated the Sox would use the money to sign another pitcher. But Edwin Jackson's now off the market and it sure doesn't sound like Roy Oswalt wants to come here. That being the case, the Sox may have decided to use the cash to replace Scutaro.
In that case, the deal becomes Scutaro and whoever they send to San Diego for Barlett, pitcher Clayton Mortensen and 500,000.
Can't say I'm dancing cartwheels over it. Bartlett had the one career year offensively in Tampa Bay in 2009 (.320, 14 homers, 66 RBI, .879 OPS); with that one exception, his OPS has been below .700 every season since 2007. He was as bad last year as he's ever been (.245, 2 homers, 40 RBI, .615 OPS). Getting out of Petco Park will help, but how much?
Still, he's better than AvilesPunto. If the bar's set low enough, you can accept almost anything.