2008 Red Sox-Yankees Comparison- Shortstop

Shortstop

Yankees- Derek Jeter- Jeter will spend his first year without Joe Torre as his manager since getting called up. It will be interesting to see how this affects him but my guess is that it won't and I think most fans agree with me. Jeter is a player I admittedly think is very overrated on defense and with his supposed intangibles and clutch ability. As a result I (and other fans who agree with me on this) tend to overstate our opinion to "compensate" for these fans that believe Jeter is god. The truth is that, although his clutch ability, gold glove defense, and "intangibles" are all either exxagerated or myths, Jeter is one of the best hitting shortstops in history. Barring injury or sudden retirement he`s going to be the first Yankee to get 3,000 hits. He has been an integral part of the championship run. I believe its past time to move him to a new posistion. Second base, first base, and the corner outfield spots should all be possibilities. Jeter is still one of the best shortstops in baaseball even with this critical flaw.

Red Sox- Julio Lugo- So far this looks like a failed signing. Last year the Red Sox him to a four year thirty-six million dollar deal (9 million/year). When they first made the signing I didn't think it made much sense and after last year it looks like I was right. He had an OBP beneath .300 last year which is abysmal. He does have some speed. He had 33 SB out of 39 attempts which is pretty good. On the other hand though, it really doesn't make to much of a difference. His defense is really no better than average to. Now Boston's on the hook for 3 more years of him. He needs to turn things around to make his contract worthwhile.

Conclusion- Yankees- I don't think anyone is going to argue with me on this one. While Jeter is overrated and a liability on defense his offense is just to good for Lugo to even be comparable to him.