Sunday, April 02, 2006
Another new home for Renteria
03/21/2006
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- For the second year in a row, Edgar Renteria will be entering a new city in which all eyes will be on him. He can only hope they'll be much more forgiving than the ones that were upon him in Boston last season.
Coming off a forgettable one-year experience with the Red Sox, Renteria comes to Atlanta determined to prove the Braves made a wise decision when opting to acquire him in a December trade for their top prospect.
Less than five days after losing Rafael Furcal via free agency, the Braves traded Andy Marte to the Red Sox in exchange for Renteria, a man they're confident will bounce back with his return to the more familiar National League.
"I couldn't ask for a better person to fill in for Fookie (Furcal)," Marcus Giles said. "It was a great move by whoever did it."
When Braves general manager John Schuerholz learned that Renteria was available, he focused not on the fact that he had hit .276 and committed a career-high 30 errors last year. Instead, he saw the welcome opportunity to grab a 30-year-old veteran shortstop who has made four All-Star Game appearances, won two Gold Gloves and three Silver Slugger Awards.
"[It's] not only what you see on the field [that] makes him the kind of player he is," Schuerholz said. "But what we know is in the clubhouse, his teammates, his managers and his coaches and his general managers and his public relations manager will tell you this is the best teammate there is."
During the early weeks of camp, Renteria has quickly gained favor with his teammates, who believe he's quite capable of sparking their offense and at the same time providing a solid glove at the shortstop position. That's exactly what he did while establishing himself as one of the game's best players in Florida and St. Louis.
"I've liked Edgar for a long time," Chipper Jones said. "I thought we should have been in the running for him a long time ago. He's a clutch hitter, situational hitter, Gold Glove-caliber shortstop. You can't ask for anything more."
Renteria's struggles in Boston began when he hit .228 in April. The resulting boos got even louder as his defensive struggles mounted. It didn't matter that he managed to end the season hitting .276 with eight homers and 70 RBIs -- the same amount of runs driven in by Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.
To Red Sox fans, Renteria had fallen far below their expectations. In fairness to them, this wasn't the same guy who had hit .297 and averaged 10 homers and 80 RBIs with the Cardinals between 2002-2004. Nor was he the sure-handed fielder who had totaled just 27 errors in his final two seasons with St. Louis.
"Nobody likes to get booed," Renteria said. "Maybe [it was] the fact they don't know nothing about me or they didn't believe I could play in the [American League]. But I know what I can do."
The Braves are hoping Renteria proves once again that he can be solid at the second spot in the lineup and at the same time regain the defensive skills that might have been hindered by the less than friendly infield dirt at Fenway Park last year.
Since delivering the celebratory 11th-inning single for the Marlins in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, Renteria -- then just 22-years-old -- has proven to be a clutch performer. During his career, he's batted .296 with runners in scoring position and .303 with runners on base.
"If you don't go out and get that caliber of ballplayer, it's just a Grand Canyon in our lineup pretty much," Giles said. "It's the biggest hole ever."
Giles, who will make the move to the leadoff spot in the batting order, looks forward to working with a shortstop of Renteria's caliber. He has spent most of his professional career with Furcal as his double-play partner. But knowing the replacement comes with impressive credentials, the veteran second baseman welcomes the change.
"Like I said, before I even took one throw from him, I figured he was going to make my life easy because of how good he is and that's exactly what has happened," Giles said. "If you've got a shortstop like Fookie or Renteria, it just makes you look so much better as a second baseman because they make your life easy."
Renteria has never blamed his struggles on the Fenway Park dirt or the intense pressure that Boston brings. Instead he's accepted full responsibility and taken it upon himself to enter this season in great health. He hired a personal trainer during the offseason and came to camp looking to be in top playing shape.
"The only way you get better is by working hard, and that is what I plan to do," Renteria said.
Renteria's greatest benefit might be playing for the ever-encouraging Bobby Cox and in a city where the fans are much more forgiving. Although he didn't meet expectations in his first year with the Braves last year, Tim Hudson says Atlanta "is one of the easiest places to play."
"Everybody knows how awesome he was in St. Louis and then he goes over to Boston and Boston is a tough place to play," Hudson said. "Anybody can go there and struggle their first year."
The consensus throughout the Braves organization is that Renteria will thrive back in the National League and in a less pressurized environment.
"I respect him as a player that I've played against about as much as anybody," John Smoltz said. "That's a high regard when you talk about the likes of who I've played against. He plays the game right, plays with his head and you never hear anything about him bad. I think he's going to wear our uniform about as good as most have."
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- For the second year in a row, Edgar Renteria will be entering a new city in which all eyes will be on him. He can only hope they'll be much more forgiving than the ones that were upon him in Boston last season.
Coming off a forgettable one-year experience with the Red Sox, Renteria comes to Atlanta determined to prove the Braves made a wise decision when opting to acquire him in a December trade for their top prospect.
Less than five days after losing Rafael Furcal via free agency, the Braves traded Andy Marte to the Red Sox in exchange for Renteria, a man they're confident will bounce back with his return to the more familiar National League.
"I couldn't ask for a better person to fill in for Fookie (Furcal)," Marcus Giles said. "It was a great move by whoever did it."
When Braves general manager John Schuerholz learned that Renteria was available, he focused not on the fact that he had hit .276 and committed a career-high 30 errors last year. Instead, he saw the welcome opportunity to grab a 30-year-old veteran shortstop who has made four All-Star Game appearances, won two Gold Gloves and three Silver Slugger Awards.
"[It's] not only what you see on the field [that] makes him the kind of player he is," Schuerholz said. "But what we know is in the clubhouse, his teammates, his managers and his coaches and his general managers and his public relations manager will tell you this is the best teammate there is."
During the early weeks of camp, Renteria has quickly gained favor with his teammates, who believe he's quite capable of sparking their offense and at the same time providing a solid glove at the shortstop position. That's exactly what he did while establishing himself as one of the game's best players in Florida and St. Louis.
"I've liked Edgar for a long time," Chipper Jones said. "I thought we should have been in the running for him a long time ago. He's a clutch hitter, situational hitter, Gold Glove-caliber shortstop. You can't ask for anything more."
Renteria's struggles in Boston began when he hit .228 in April. The resulting boos got even louder as his defensive struggles mounted. It didn't matter that he managed to end the season hitting .276 with eight homers and 70 RBIs -- the same amount of runs driven in by Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.
To Red Sox fans, Renteria had fallen far below their expectations. In fairness to them, this wasn't the same guy who had hit .297 and averaged 10 homers and 80 RBIs with the Cardinals between 2002-2004. Nor was he the sure-handed fielder who had totaled just 27 errors in his final two seasons with St. Louis.
"Nobody likes to get booed," Renteria said. "Maybe [it was] the fact they don't know nothing about me or they didn't believe I could play in the [American League]. But I know what I can do."
The Braves are hoping Renteria proves once again that he can be solid at the second spot in the lineup and at the same time regain the defensive skills that might have been hindered by the less than friendly infield dirt at Fenway Park last year.
Since delivering the celebratory 11th-inning single for the Marlins in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, Renteria -- then just 22-years-old -- has proven to be a clutch performer. During his career, he's batted .296 with runners in scoring position and .303 with runners on base.
"If you don't go out and get that caliber of ballplayer, it's just a Grand Canyon in our lineup pretty much," Giles said. "It's the biggest hole ever."
Giles, who will make the move to the leadoff spot in the batting order, looks forward to working with a shortstop of Renteria's caliber. He has spent most of his professional career with Furcal as his double-play partner. But knowing the replacement comes with impressive credentials, the veteran second baseman welcomes the change.
"Like I said, before I even took one throw from him, I figured he was going to make my life easy because of how good he is and that's exactly what has happened," Giles said. "If you've got a shortstop like Fookie or Renteria, it just makes you look so much better as a second baseman because they make your life easy."
Renteria has never blamed his struggles on the Fenway Park dirt or the intense pressure that Boston brings. Instead he's accepted full responsibility and taken it upon himself to enter this season in great health. He hired a personal trainer during the offseason and came to camp looking to be in top playing shape.
"The only way you get better is by working hard, and that is what I plan to do," Renteria said.
Renteria's greatest benefit might be playing for the ever-encouraging Bobby Cox and in a city where the fans are much more forgiving. Although he didn't meet expectations in his first year with the Braves last year, Tim Hudson says Atlanta "is one of the easiest places to play."
"Everybody knows how awesome he was in St. Louis and then he goes over to Boston and Boston is a tough place to play," Hudson said. "Anybody can go there and struggle their first year."
The consensus throughout the Braves organization is that Renteria will thrive back in the National League and in a less pressurized environment.
"I respect him as a player that I've played against about as much as anybody," John Smoltz said. "That's a high regard when you talk about the likes of who I've played against. He plays the game right, plays with his head and you never hear anything about him bad. I think he's going to wear our uniform about as good as most have."
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
