While I'm no believer in the philosophy that defense is the end all and be all at short, I think that the present focus on shortstop is somewhat misguided. There are other avenues to improve the team besides short, and these avenues might be more workable.


Next few years
For the purposes of this discussion, I'm going to assume Burke goes to second, and Berkman goes to first, and that Lamb is not a starter. That leaves us with 3-5 offensive weaknesses: catcher, short, and every outfield spot. I would like to see if Luke Scott can fill one of those spots. Maybe the next few months will answer that.

Therefore, we are left needing help at 2-3 outfield spots, catcher, and short. Given the apparent fact that hitting shortstops are expensive rarities, why not focus on the other positions. Try to get a couple of real outfield hitters in free agency. Hope that Pence will contribute, and work real damn hard to find a catcher with at least average offensive production. That would leave our only offensive hole at short, and he is at least a damn good fielder.

In other words, why spend so much wealth on short, while we have other positions we can upgrade at, especially when hitters at these positions are not quite the premium hitting shortstops are.