Way, way back in the off season JP claimed that it might take a "two-or-three headed monster" to get the job done at shortstop this season.  This creative turn of phrase might’ve turned eyebrows for the uninitiated and was likely designed to win your confidence in the formidable King Kong-Godzilla-Mothra grouping of John McDonald, Jason Smith, and Royce Clayton.  Did you fall for it?  No?  Really?

If you’ve seen more than a handful of games this year, you haven’t been shocked by the fact that the actual on-field result of the “monster system” hasn’t been pretty.  Collectively, our shortstops have hit a thoroughly uninspiring .239/.276/.327 with 2 HR and 26 RBI.  Something must be done.  You already knew that, though, so where to now?

Rule V pick-up Jason Smith, who never met a pitch he wouldn’t swing at, has long since departed and toils on the fringes somewhere far, far away.  Fare thee well.  J-Mac remains and is what he is: an excellent defender who plays hard-nosed baseball and always gets the Little Smart Things that win ballgames done.  (Read between the lines, he has his uses and should be on the club next year.)  Clayton, a career .258/.312/.367 hitter, is sitting at a .254/.304/.344 clip in part-time duties this year, which is pretty much what you’d expect from a rapidly aging player of his skill set who has never showed any plate discipline or power.

Clayton might well be the best bat we currently have at shortstop, which isn’t anything to brag about, but his very modest production is more than offset by his defensive shortcomings.  In the field, his range, arm and judgment (see his recent lazy decision not to cutoff a relay on a deep fly to V-Dub, allowing Juan Uribe to tag, advance to third and ultimately score in the 5th inning of the July 27 4-3 loss to lowly the White Sox) are all severely lacking.  So why are we still kicking the tires on this old beater?

There’s the sticky question of whether or not it’s a bit classless to DFA a 17-year veteran that A) you specifically targeted in the off season; and B) who probably has two months of baseball left in him before retirement.  But come on, this is Royce Clayton, who’s played a mighty good share of games over the years, but has never been more than a stopgap filler for each of the 9!!! teams he’s played for since 1996.

I’d dump him now.  Here’s why: there just aren’t any good shortstops available via free agency this coming off season and the shortstop dilemma will most likely have to be sorted out in-house or via the trade route.

Here’s the uninspiring list of free agent shortstops this winter: http://www.mlb4u.com/freeagency.php?field=position .  If JP passed on Julio Lugo last off season because he was cost-prohibitive, don’t expect to see David Eckstein in a Jays’ uni in 2008.  Omar Vizquel is a 40-year-old antique who could probably be had cheaply (because he can’t hit anymore), but would represent another stopgap solution.  Tomohiro Nioka (http://japanesebaseball.com/players/player.jsp?PlayerID=1072), 31, of the Yomuri Giants might be an interesting player to target, but whether JP would take a relative risk on a proven Japanese star that hasn’t played a game in North America is another matter.  Tomo Ohka was a bit of a weirdo and the Jays in general have not salivated over Japanese players the way some of MLB clubs have.

If the free agent market won’t yield us a quality shortstop, then perhaps the trade route might. We could always try to pry 23-year-old Taiwanese prospect Chin-Lung Hu, hitting .341/.388/.531 with 9 HR, 46 RBI and 13 SB between AA and AAA this year, away from the Dodgers.  The Dodgers have Rafael Furcal under contract for next year and are probably grooming Hu to take over from him, or could conceivably use him at second when Jeff Kent departs via free agency or retires.  The D-Rays have more youngish shortstops than they know what to do with, but are reluctant to trade within their division.   Perhaps the Braves, ever looking to cut costs and break new talent, would shop Edgar Renteria?  In all trade scenarios, one must consider at the cost at which these players come and whether it’s worth patching the shortstop hole to create another one elsewhere.

All things considered, I’d bank on our 2008 starting shortstop coming from within the system and that’s why I think it’s time to DFA Clayton and call 26-year-old Ray Olmedo  (http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Ray%20Olmedo&pos=SS&sid=t552&t=p_pbp&pid=408232) up from Syracuse.  Olmedo is a slight, switch hitting defensive specialist with no extra-base power whatsoever.  He’s hitting and talking walks to the tune of a .288/.341/.681 line at Syracuse, which would represent a significant upgrade on what we now have if he was able to transition well to the majors.  And most importantly, he’d be cheap.  P.S. JP likes players who come cheap.  Sometimes they turn out to be a great value.

Clayton is no man of the future and there’s a possibility, however remote, that Olmedo might be in the mix next season if the free agent market and trade route both fail to yield the sort of shortstop we really want.  Let’s get him up, give him some ABs over the final 2 months of the season and at least see where he stands in our planning for 2008.  If he fails, then at least we know it’s time to redouble our search and find a solution elsewhere.  There’s absolutely nothing to lose to having Olmedo platoon with J-Mac for the rest of the year, so JP, make’er happen, chief!

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