If the RedSox think/believe that Dustin Pedroia has the skills to move from secondbase to shortstop, that’s something that would make a ton of sense for the organization. And kudos to Pedroia for lobbying for such a move:

“They’ve asked me if I think I could play shortstop,” says Pedroia. “They’ve put it out there and I’ve told them I’m all for it. I can do it. I can’t wait for Tito [Terry Francona] to call me and ask, ‘Can you do it?’ I can do it. I really want to do it.”

Pedroia was an all-American shortstop at Arizona State, and takes ground balls at the position during the season. The staff has thrown it out to him, realizing that it might be easier to sign or acquire an everyday, defensive second baseman like Orlando Hudson than a shortstop. There is some hesitation about Marco Scutaro, between the plantar fasciitis that bothered him late in the season and the possibility of giving up a first-round draft pick to sign him. Although one general manager suggested that if the Blue Jays offer Scutaro arbitration, they could be stuck with $6M in arbitration at shortstop in addition to Alex Gonzalez and John McDonald. There are voices in the Red Sox organization that believe that another possibility is Brandon Phillips, who was a shortstop in the Montreal and Cleveland organizations and hit 20 homers while playing second base for the Reds last season.

Yep, Pedroia to SS would plug an ever-leaking hole and filling the void at secondbase would be infinitely easier (and long-term) cheaper.

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Good FOTB Bill from The Daily Something has an impressive list of 15 things about Bud Selig that are a must-read today. I’ll serve up the second-to-last one to whet your appetite:

Finally, Bud Selig, to me, has left a little trail of slime on any and every part of the game his smarmy little hands have touched. He’s incessantly, almost compulsively dishonest. To me, it’s been great to be a baseball fan in the last 18 years. Great players, vast back-and-forth changes in styles of play, lots of great races and World Series and all that. But the moment you think of it as the Bud Selig Era, a thick layer of grime seems to cover the whole thing. Even if no practical changes are made, it will be great to be rid of that.

Take that! I had this to say about Selig yesterday:

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I think this is all well and good, expected and appreciated. However, I am still not certain it’s a deal the Yanks need to make at this time, if we’re to believe the rumored costs.

Burnett, who credited Halladay with helping him become a more consistent pitcher during their three years as teammates, would love to see the former Cy Young winner traded to a contender – preferably the Yankees – and get his opportunity to pitch in the postseason for the first time, something Burnett finally did this fall.

“I think it’s time for him to get a fresh start,” Burnett said Monday. “He’s paid his dues there, been the face of the organization, done everything they’ve asked him to do and more. At this point in his career, I think he just wants to win.”

Again, at what cost? The Yanks’spurned Santana, infamously, knowing that there was an equally big fish (Sabathia) about to be released into the pond and one that would only cost cash, not the organization’s top prospects as well.

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