Orlando Cabrera to Reds; Melvin Mora to Rockies

The Reds signed Orlando Cabrera for 2010 at $4 million.  Given his age (35 in 2010) and the fact that the Reds are still rebuilding, I wondered whether this was a good move for the Reds.  After checking their roster for shortstops, it makes sense to me.

None of the four shortstops listed on the Reds’ roster on espn.com looks ready to contribute much as a major league shortshop in 2010.  Paul Janish, who played short quite a bit for the Reds last season, doesn’t look like a major league hitter.

Drew Sutton looks like a major league hitter, but he’s not really a shortstop, having played mostly second in the minors.  He played at 2nd, Short and 3rd in the minors, so he is probably good enough is a back-up role at short, but without knowing more, I’d guess his defense at short isn’t good enough for him to play regularly there at the major league level.  Also, he’ll be 27 in 2010, so he’s unlikely to get much better than he is now, just reaching the majors.

The Reds have two fairly promising 24 year old minor league shortstops in Zack Cozart and Chris Valaika.  Cozart was the Reds second round pick in 2007 (79th overall), and Valaika was a third round pick in 2006 (84th overall).  Both look like they need at least half a season at AAA before they’re ready for the majors.

Valaika had a strong season at AA Chattanooga in 2008, but he hit poorly his first year at AAA Louisville in 2009 (.615 OPS).  Cozart was at AA Carolina last season and had an impressive .360 OBP percentage.  However, with an overall .758 OPS, he also needs significant time at Louisville.  Presumably, the lesser defensive shortstop of the two will start at second for the Bats at the start of 2010, while 23 year old Dominican slugger Juan Francisco will start at third for the Bats, and 27 year old Adam Rosales will back up Scott Rolen in Cincinnati, at least until Francisco proves he’s ready.

The upshot is that the Reds have a one year hole at shortstop that Orlando Cabrera should file adequately until either Cozart or Valaika is ready.

Meanwhile, the Rockies signed Melvin Mora to a one-year $1.3 million dollar deal.  I don’t think a whole lot of this deal.  Mora is cheap, but he’ll be 38 in 2010 and is coming off a bad year in Baltimore.  Playing his home games in Coors Field may mask his offensive decline, but I’ll be surprised if he’s particularly good for the Rockies in 2010.

Also, Mora didn’t hit lefties much better than right-handed pitchers last year and has a relatively small platoon differential over the course of his career, so he doesn’t appear to have a great deal of value as a potential platoon player.   It looks like the Rockies signed him mainly as an insurance policy in case Ian Stewart plays poorly next season.  If they’re lucky, Stewart will prove to be for real, and Mora will mainly pinch hit.