One of the biggest running stories of spring training is the position battle between newcomer Jed Lowrie and veteran Julio Lugo. Red Sox Nation has seemed to be collectively pulling for Jed Lowrie, and with good reason. In recent memory, the Sox farm system has produced the likes of Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jon Lester, and Jacoby Ellsbury, among others. Every time the scouts tell us a player is good, he turns out to be, with a few exceptions, phenomenal. Pawtucket and Portland have earned our trust, and rightfully so.
So what do the scouts have to say about Lowrie? An “intelligent” player with a “decent glove and average range” at shortstop. Not particularly glowing praise, but the report goes on to tout his plate discipline (a skill in which the Sox place great value) and laud his defensive improvement while in the farm system. You can read the entire scouting report here. While he’s not forecasted to become a superstar, he has the stuff to become a solid everyday player. After two years of Lugo and one before that of Edgar Renteria, I’ll take that.
So what about Julio Lugo? He has, uh, not quite been what Theo Epstein was expecting when he signed Lugo to a four-year deal at $9 million per. Lugo has publicly stated that he expects to be back to his pre-Sox form this year. He theorizes that his problem in 2007 was the pressure he put upon himself, and we know 2008 was injury-ridden. So this year Lugo has something to prove, which can work in one of two ways: as it does for Dustin Pedroia, whose success is partially fueled by his belief that others think he is too small to play the game successfully, or as it did for Clay Buchholz, who admittedly succumbed to pressure in 2008 and was demoted for nearly an entire year to rediscover his confidence. It seems to me that Lugo is only putting more pressure on himself by announcing his return to his pre-2007 form. For his sake, I hope this doesn’t backfire, but the whole thing seems a little backwards to me.
So Lugo or Lowrie? My heart has to go with Lowrie. I’m always partial toward youth, especially when compared to a veteran coming off two disappointing seasons. But there’s one aspect we haven’t explored yet. While Alex Cora signing elsewhere this offseason, either Lugo or Lowrie will need to be available off the bench. As Ron Chimelis points out, Lowrie is suited for this role; Lugo is not. Lowrie can play short, third, and second, while Lugo can play… short. Chimelis made a good comparison between this situation and last year’s position battle between Coco Crisp and Jacoby 
Ellsbury. While Ellsbury won the starting job, the Sox were extremely fortunate to have a player of Crisps’s caliber on the bench, especially with JD Drew’s injury. Here’s where I believe Chimelis’s comparison ends: The Providence Journal reported that Lugo may ask for a trade if not given the starting job after spring training. This statement has made me a bit uneasy, especially after Lugo’s public support of Manny Ramirez through his, um, issues last season. Best case scenario: Some reporter asked Lugo if he would rather play every day for another team than be a bench player for the Sox, and Lugo responded yes, that he would want to be traded to play every day. Worst case scenario: Lugo was sending a message to the Red Sox; play him every day or don’t play him at all. The first scenario is understandable, the second is downright frightening. I’m just not certain Lugo has the versatility or the class to be able to handle the job Alex Cora so capably managed over the last two seasons.
Ironically, it is because of my faith in Jed Lowrie as a player and a person that I reluctantly believe it would be better for the Red Sox for Julio Lugo to win the starting shortstop job this spring.
