Marco Scutaro Is About To Become The Highest-Priced Above Average Player of All Time

Marco Scutaro is ’bout to get his bling on.

Marco Scutaro is about to become baseball’s version of Larry Brown.

You remember Larry Brown, don’t you?

(No, not the former Sixers’ coach/troubadour.)

I’m talking about the former Cowboys cornerback who intercepted two Neil O’Donnell passes in Super Bowl XXX, then scored a huge free agent pay-day based solely on his good fortune in that one game.

And while Brown’s success in Dallas’ Super Bowl win over the Steelers was really as much luck as anything else, his situation is comparable to that of baseball’s newest superstar, Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro.

Since his arrival to the Giants in a trade with Colorado, Scutaro has been nothing short of remarkable.

In 61 games and 268 plate appearances with San Francisco, Scutaro hit .362/.385/.473, with an OPS+ of 145. He has surpassed that production in the playoffs, winning NLCS MVP honors after hitting .500/.533/.607 with 14 hits in 28 at bats. He has also played brilliant defense.

And with so few infield options available on the free agent market this year, a guy like Scutaro, who can play second, shortstop and third (YOU HEAR THAT PHILLIES FANS!!! THIRD BASE!!! THIRD BASE!!! THIRD BASE!!!… panting heavily… knees getting weaker… need… a… third… baseman… soooooooo… badly!) all of a sudden becomes a very palatable option.

And it’s true, Marco Scutaro is in one of those zones where the baseball, as Fox announcer Tim McCarver so creatively put it last night, looks like a watermelon at the plate.

Josh Hamilton: 65 swings and misses in his last 15 games (63 PA). Marco Scutaro: 62 swings and misses in all of 2012 (736 PA).
— Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) October 23, 2012

Marco Scutaro- 7 swings in Game 1, missed none. He's now taken 89 swings this postseason and only missed twice.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 25, 2012

But looking a little closer at Scutaro’s career numbers reveal a nice player, but not someone to whom you want to plop down gobs of cash.

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2002	26	NYM	NL	27	38	36	2	8	0	1	1	6	0	1	0	11	.222	.216	.361	.577	52
2003	27	NYM	NL	48	91	75	10	16	4	0	2	6	2	0	13	14	.213	.333	.347	.680	81
2004	28	OAK	AL	137	477	455	50	124	32	1	7	43	0	0	16	58	.273	.297	.393	.690	79
2005	29	OAK	AL	118	423	381	48	94	22	3	9	37	5	2	36	48	.247	.310	.391	.701	86
2006	30	OAK	AL	117	423	365	52	97	21	6	5	41	5	1	50	66	.266	.350	.397	.747	96
2007	31	OAK	AL	104	379	338	49	88	13	0	7	41	2	1	35	40	.260	.332	.361	.693	88
2008	32	TOR	AL	145	592	517	76	138	23	1	7	60	7	2	57	65	.267	.341	.356	.697	88
2009	33	TOR	AL	144	680	574	100	162	35	1	12	60	14	5	90	75	.282	.379	.409	.789	108
2010	34	BOS	AL	150	695	632	92	174	38	0	11	56	5	4	53	71	.275	.333	.388	.721	92
2011	35	BOS	AL	113	445	395	59	118	26	1	7	54	4	2	38	36	.299	.358	.423	.781	110
2012	36	TOT	NL	156	683	620	87	190	32	4	7	74	9	4	40	49	.306	.348	.405	.753	99
2012	36	COL	NL	95	415	377	47	102	16	3	4	30	7	3	27	35	.271	.324	.361	.684	73
2012	36	SFG	NL	61	268	243	40	88	16	1	3	44	2	1	13	14	.362	.385	.473	.859	145
11 Yrs	1259	4926	4388	625	1209	246	18	75	478	53	22	428	533	.276	.340	.391	.731	94
162 Game Avg.	162	634	565	80	156	32	2	10	62	7	3	55	69	.276	.340	.391	.731	94

Obviously, Scutaro is a very nice player. He’s an above average player with a career slash line of .276/.340/.391, with 18 career HRs in 1259 games.

But he is not the player we’ve been seeing for the last two weeks. He’s not an unstoppable hit machine. He’s a decent infielder nearing the end of his career.

This is not meant to demean what Scutaro is doing right now. At 37 years old, this will undoubtedly be the shining achievement of his career, even if the Giants don’t end up winning the World Series. And he certainly would be an upgrade at third base for the Phillies over what they have now, especially because his splits against righties and lefties are historically pretty even.

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	tOPS+
vs RHP as RHB	1104		3593	3210		893	179	15	49	356	45	18	295	396	.278	.339	.389	.728	.301	99
vs LHP as RHB	563		1333	1178		316	67	3	26	122	8	4	133	137	.268	.342	.396	.738	.284	102
vs LH Starter	382	351	1562	1369	214	379	82	2	30	165	8	4	159	146	.277	.352	.405	.757	.290	107
vs RH Starter	877	759	3364	3019	411	830	164	16	45	313	45	18	269	387	.275	.334	.385	.719	.300	97

So the Phillies should make a play for him… but only for the right price.

Only a one year deal, possibly with an option, would make sense for the Phils. Anything longer than that and you’re paying a 40-year old guy to play baseball for a team that already has age issues. And one would think Scutaro’s Ty Cobb impersonation isn’t going to last and will likely price him out of the Phillies’ budget and long-term plans.

Besides, San Francisco will likely make the same kind of push to re-sign him after the season like they did with Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell after their World Series win in 2010. And there are indications Marco would like to stay, anyway.

But someone is going to pay this guy a lot of money this offseason and make him a multi-year commitment based on his inflated postseason numbers.

That team should not be the Phillies.

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