Prospectus Perspective

1. The Red Sox trade Marco Scutaro to the Reds for Matt Maloney.

We talked about the field of shortstop options a bit Wednesday, so here's my more aggressive suggestion that the Red Sox get serious about making a move and just go ahead and put Scooter in the Queen City. For the Reds, this just makes too much sense to overlook. Even if Scooter's walk rates stay south of 10 percent, between moving to the weaker league, a weak division, and getting a shot at spending half of his season in the best right-handed power park in the major leagues, he could put up a season that might make people remember that all sorts of unlikelies get to be seen as star shortstops, like Rich Aurilia in the '90s, or Scutaro after the 2009 season.

That said, the Red Sox need things, so it isn't like this is just a giveaway. The Reds' second-rank pitching talent could contribute to all sorts of ballclubs, so here's a thought: Walt Jocketty deals from depth, and sends Maloney, a left-hander, to Boston to get his team its shortstop and leadoff hitter. Boston needs upper-level lefty pitching talent, no matter how far along Felix Doubront has come, and if they non-tender Hideki Okajima today, they'll have a slot in the bullpen for the a nice Irish boy to step in right away. If Maloney's blend of well-located lefty-standard heat plus solid command of his breaking stuff makes for a quality Okajima replacement right away, that's great, but he's enough of a prospect to be a viable choice for the fifth slot if (or when) rotation injuries mound up. And there's nothing that says Theo Epstein couldn't just repurpose Maloney in a later deal when his club needs something more specific than roster spots and offloading last year's good ideas.

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