What Do we Have: Shortstops

There is perhaps no player on the Pirates that will generate more discussion and perhaps scorn than Ronny Cedeno. Many simply cannot stand how Ronny will from time to time simply seemingly forget that he is playing baseball at that time. Mental errors really hurt him at times.

There has never really been a question about the physical skills of Cedeno. He can more than physically play shortstop. In fact he took great strides this season, especially defensively. While he is not the gold glover that the announcers sometimes make him seem to be, he is above average. Add in the fact that that he is not a complete zero at the plate, you wonder why some may want to run him out of town. It is not as though starting shortstops are growing on trees around baseball.

Cedeno is due a raise, approximately $3.5 million for next season, which is again still a bargain considering what is out there. I shudder to think of the Pirates going out on the free agent market and finding someone to come in at shortstop. That guy would be considerably more expensive and perhaps not all that much better production wise.

Many are going to clamor for Chase d'Arnaud to be the shortstop next season, but really he has been very overmatched. His defense has been somewhat shaky and has clearly been overmatched at the plate. Right now Cedeno is a better option than d'Arnaud. In a year or so that might not be the case, but for the time being, keeping Cedeno is not the worst thing in the world.