In the year 2000 our Seattle Mariners didn’t worry about their shortstop’s performance.  Alex Rodriguez held down the position from both sides of the ball.  Defensively he was easily a top five defender and offensively he hit .316 with 41 homers while walking 100 times.  2000 was his last season in Seattle colors as he left via free agency the following offseason.

After his departure the promising young Carlos Guillen was bumped from third base to short stop, manning the position through the 2003 season.  He played okay out there, but nothing special.  Defensively he was in the bottom half of baseball, sporting poor range and making mental mistakes, and offensively he hadn’t yet turned into the All-Star we know today. 

Free agent Rich Aurilia took over in 2004 after Guillen was traded to Detroit.  Aurilia was a huge bust and barely made it into July. 

Rookie Jose Lopez was slotted in at shortstop for the remainder of the season.  He struggled at the plate, as many rookies do, and he showed that he didn’t have the range or footwork to be a big league shortstop.

Before the 2005 season free agent Pokey Reese was signed to bring stability to the position, despite being an offensive liability for the majority of his career.  Reese injured himself during Spring Training and then abruptly abandoned Major League baseball, failing to appear in a single game with Seattle or any other team.  Wilson Valdez was picked off of the waiver wire and played 42 games at shortstop for Seattle that season.  He brought nothing to the plate, hitting under .200, and had a wet noodle of an arm.  After Valdez was traded, utility man Willie Bloomquist, who was alright defensively and a non factor factor offensively, and rookie Mike Morse, who was impressing with his bat but was a defensive liability, held down the position through July.

It was on August 2, 2005 that Seattle first started Yuniesky Betancout, a young Cuban that had just made his way to the States to sign with the ballclub in March, at shortstop.  He had started four previous games at second base, but it was obvious that his defense was far superior to Morse’s.  Betancourt was then heralded as a future gold glove winner and the shortstop of the future.  Offensively he didn’t show much at all, putting up a vital line of just .256/.296/.370 in 60 games, but the supposed stability he provided and defensive potential more than made up for it in the minds of many.

In Betancourt’s first full season he flirted with .300 and showed some pop, tricking fans into thinking that they may have more than just a defensive shortstop.  In 2007 he put up similar numbers, but by that time the new car smell was gone and Betancourt was beginning to be picked apart.  Everyone began noticing the lack of plate discipline, including ugly swings at fastballs up around his eyes and inability to take a walk.  And where was this gold glove defense?  Two years later and he was still making the same rookie errors in the field.

This season Betancourt has lost the ability to hit for a decent average, so the criticism is coming at him full force.  The patience is getting worse, not better, and he continues to make those rookie errors in the field.  Add that his range is diminishing, probably a direct result of the belly he’s developing, which is probably a direct result of his growing reputation as a lazy player with a poor work ethic.

It’s no secret that the front office, management and even other players are getting fed up with Betancourt’s act.  With an all around deterioration of his skills so far to date, how much time does he have left with the Seattle Mariners?  Isn’t it about time that Betancourt’s name is the next to be crossed off the list?

Whether Yuni’s time is up or if he will be given another opportunity to succeed will depend on who is in the front office and who is managing the team next year, but getting himself in shape wouldn’t hurt his chances.  Getting physically fit won’t change his plate discipline problems, but it would improve his range at shortstop and thus improve his overall defensive contributions.  He has the potential to be great out there, we all know that.  If he can get anywhere near the defensive potential everyone thought he had in 2005 he’d probably keep his spot in the everyday lineup, as saving runs is just about as good as creating them.  That said, I’m not counting on Betancourt to turn around any aspect of his game.

Should the new GM decide to make a major upgrade at shortstop, they may elect to pursue one of the two worthwhile names at the position: Rafael Furcal or Orlando Cabrera.  I don’t really see either as a great idea at this point, unless the new GM plans on bringing in some other impact players, unloading a couple big contracts and making a legitimate run.  Stranger things have happened.

I think Seattle should at least challenge Betancourt from within.  Tug Hulett and Mark Kiger are a couple guys that would make it a good competition, in my opinion.  While I haven’t seen either play much, I get the impression that both are pretty solid in the field, but nothing great.  On the other end of things, either guy could be an offensive upgrade over Betancourt. 

Hulett, up with the big club since Willie Bloomquist hit the DL, wasn’t thought of as much more than a utility player when he was acquired in the Ben Broussard trade.  Since then his outlook hasn’t changed dramatically, but he put up some nice numbers for AAA Tacoma before his promotion.  In 400 plate appearances his line was .298/.380/.518 with an OPS just shy of .900.  The power he displayed this season was something new for him as he hit 14 homers (7 in Tacoma’s Cheney Stadium, a pitcher’s park) and 22 doubles.  The best thing about Hulett’s offensive game is his ability to take a walk.  In the 90 games he played with Tacoma he drew 49 walks, which look great against Betancourt’s 11 in 122 games.  Hulett is also more of a threat on the bases than Betancourt.

Betancourt’s career on-base percentage is just over .300, which is unacceptable, embarrassing and easily the weakest part of his game.  Hulett’s OBP this season in Tacoma, as mentioned above, was .380.  He has a career minor league mark of .394, which is excellent.  The chances of Hulett outdoing Betancourt’s career high OBP of .310 are pretty decent, even with the offensive struggles that often accompany a rookie.  There is no reason for Betancourt to be starting over someone like Hulett, unless his defense is exponentially better, which isn’t the case right now.

The same story can be applied to Kiger.  While he hasn’t bloomed into the player Billy Beane had hoped for in the book Moneyball, he could still be a better option than Betancourt.  He’s had his ups and downs since being drafted in the 5th round by the Oakland A’s back in 2002, but the one skill that has remained consistent for him has been his ability to draw the walk.  Despite hitting just .218 through 102 games for AA West Tennessee this season, his OBP sits at a respectable .350, thanks to 71 walks.  Kiger played well with the Mariners during Spring Training, hitting .412 with a couple doubles, a home run and three walks in 10 games, and he should get another shot next year.

Whatever happens with Betancourt, whether he remains the starting shortstop beyond this season, gets traded or lands on the bench, it’s about time that everyone realizes that Betancourt is the latest shortstop to fail at bringing stability to the position Alex Rodriguez abandoned eight years ago.  If he is still the starter in 2009, then I hope he proves me wrong, but until then… NEXT!

Photo Source