Mark Mulder K'd 12 Dodgers tonight and the bullpen didn't give up an earned run.

Feels good doesn't it? Since theres nothing pitching wise to fret over it's time for our weeklyish comparison of Renteria and Ecksein.

Player     Avg    OBP   SLG   OPS
Eckstein  .282   .357  .345  .703
Renteria  .237   .298  .342  .640

On first glance Eckstein looks good, last time I did this I said:

... the Cardinals have the better shortstop so far this year

At that point it was clear Eckstein was outplaying Renteria, but now it's not so clear. Some more stats:

Player   ISO  WalkRate SB   K's  AB
Eckstein .063  .075    2-4  6    110
Renteria .105  .061    2-2  16   114

Before Eckstein had a walk rate of .168 but he's regressed back to his career norm. Renteria was hitting for a great deal of power but he's also regressed back to his career norm. Eckstein is still getting on base more than Renteria but thats largely due to Renterias pathetic .237 batting average. Throw in the fact Eckstein has been caught stealing and he's better than Renteria but it's not as clear cut.

Of course last time I prefaced my conclusion with Money aside, but now it's time to take the money into account. And on that score it's not even close. The Cardinals are getting a slightly better performance out of just a third the salary the Red Sox are paying. One hundred at bats into the season and the Red Sox have to start wondering if they made a huge mistake.

I couldn't tell you. Renterias struck out 16 times this year which isn't outlandish but for a guy with a history of back injuries to see his average drop like this is disturbing. If some hits start dropping he could come back, but I'm glad it's not my $10 million a year making that bet. I hope he comes back, Renteria has always been a favorite player of mine and despite his defection I hate to see him collapse.