The Boston Red Sox seem to be the team worth watching this trade season, with their persistent chase after a shortstop, and an outfielder.
Jeff Francouer, Josh Willingham, Adam Dunn, JJ Hardy, Miguel Tejada, Matt LaPorta and Hanley Ramirez have all been tossed around, not to mention some catchers like Victor Martinez and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. You can now add the Texas Rangers' Omar Vizquel and the Colorado Rockies' Ryan Spilborghs to that list.
Vizquel has been an All-Star with the Cleveland Indians, but now at age 42 Vizquel's hitting skills have slowed. His defense is still excellent, but I would still want the Red Sox's current shortstops, Jed Lowrie, Julio Lugo, and Nick Green instead of Vizquel. Lowrie is 25, Lugo is 33, and Green is 30. This season, Vizquel is hitting .333, with no home runs, and six RBI. Vizquel has 17 hits in 22 games as the backup to Elvis Andrus.
Ryan Spilborghs is now the fifth outfielder with the Rockies, with Colorado calling up Carlos Gonzalez, whom the Rockies acquired from the Oakland Athletics in the Matt Holliday trade.
Spilborghs isn't an All-Star, and most likely will never be one, but he's still a good, solid hitter and fielder off the bench for Colorado, and maybe for the team that he could be traded to. The Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, and Tampa Bay Rays also seem to be in the market for Spilborghs as well.
I personally prefer Spilborghs over Vizquel, because I think that Vizquel is too old to provide a significant leg up over Lowrie, Lugo, and Green. Spilborghs could be better than Rocco Baldelli as the fourth outfielder, because if one of the Red Sox starting outfielders goes down with an injury, Baldelli can't play every day because of a condition that causes fatigue faster than normal. If the Red Sox Spilborghs, Spilborghs could play every day.
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