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Mailbag: Why the need for a shortstop? | reds.com: News

Reds beat reporter Mark Sheldon answers fans' questions

By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
11/10/08 12:55 PM EST

Can you explain why the Reds are looking at picking up another shortstop? Alex Gonzalez is still getting $5-plus million, and Jeff Keppinger and Jerry Hairston Jr. have proven to be above average at the plate and solid enough in the field.
-- Jon N., Madeira, Ohio

You have the key word in that question -- "looking." It doesn't mean the Reds will add one. And if they do go for a shortstop, we now know it won't be an expensive one such as Khalil Greene after general manager Walt Jocketty shot down that rumor pretty definitively. Any shortstop addition would be for a more inexpensive player with less than three years of service time. Here is what I wrote last week. Gonzalez missed all of last year and had a complicated surgery to repair a fractured left knee. So I think seeking some insurance is wise. This past season underscored the point that depth is needed at shortstop, as the Reds lost four of them to serious injuries -- Gonzalez, Keppinger, Hairston and Jolbert Cabrera. At this point, the Reds will have Keppinger back, but Hairston is still an unsigned free agent. Cabrera won't be back. Young shortstop Paul Janish isn't proven yet offensively, and prospect Chris Valaika remains at least another year away.

Cont..

If Jerry Hairston signs elsewhere, the Reds would be even thinner on the infield. (Marc Serota/Getty Images)