The persistent rumors that Bobby Valentine is on his way out as Red Sox manager reached fever pitch on Monday when none other than Marco Scutaro’s name surfaced as a possible replacement for the inventor of the wrap!

Why won’t these rumors go away, you may ask? Well, for one thing, look at he toll the Sox manager’s job has taken on Bobby V in just a few months:

This latest Bobby V replacement rumor was fueled by information this blog obtained from a reliable source inside the Sox organization. Our source learned that John Henry had ended his quest to buy the Colorado Rockies in return for getting the Rockies’ assurance that Scoot would be made available to the Sox IF AND ONLY IF Henry wanted Scutaro back to replace Valentine as Sox manager.

Our source went on to reveal that the plan would actually be for Scutaro to not only manage the Sox, but also be their starting shortstop!

Whether or not Henry goes thru with this move is apparently contingent on how the Sox do on their current road trip. If they come home with a losing record, our source says that Henry will pull the trigger!

This blog tried to reach John Henry for his comment on this latest Bobby V replacement rumor, but The Iroquois, Henry’s yacht, was already outside the 3 mile limit and was not accepting incoming calls. (This pattern of avoiding the press by setting sail on The Iroquois is a familiar dodge Henry has used in the past when big Sox news was about to break.)

The “Grey Goose” has flown the coop again! Looks like big news (Sox, NASCAR or Liverpool soccer) is about to break!

Stay tuned!

 

By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | 03/08/12 9:52 PM EST

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Rockies second baseman Marco Scutaro is usually the one who takes advantage of lapses.

Twice during his Major League career, once while playing for the Mets against the Rockies in 2003 and the other time while with the Red Sox against the Phillies in ’09, Scutaro drew a walk, but noticed the defense not paying attention, so he rounded first and took second base.

But Scutaro was shocked on Jan. 21. Hunting for deer and wild hogs on a friend’s farm “in the middle of nowhere” in his native Venezuela, and so far out of cellphone range that two days of rumors never reached him, he had no idea that the Rockies had acquired him in a trade with the Red Sox, for right-handed pitcher Clayton Mortensen.

“The guys that work on the farm were watching a winter ballgame, and when I got off the farm one of them said, ‘Hey, congratulations,'” Scutaro said. “My wife had already given birth. He told me, ‘You got traded to Colorado, I don’t know.’ He told me innocently.”

By no means was the Rockies’ acquisition of Scutaro, 36, an off-hand proposition.

As the Red Sox’s primary shortstop last year, Scutaro hit a .299 with a .423 slugging percentage, the best such marks in his 10-season career with the Mets, Athletics, Blue Jays and Red Sox. Scutaro’s .358 on-base percentage was second-best of his career.

But what the Rockies felt they needed could not be found on a stat sheet. After going 73-89 last year, the Rockies needed Scutaro’s attention to detail, which not only shows up in the odd base-running play, but has manifested itself in a .992 career fielding percentage in 324 career games at second base.

The Rockies also loved Scutaro’s grit. The best example of that came in 2010, when he suffered a significant shoulder injury late in the year and moved to second base rather than sitting out. Hurting, he nonetheless reached safely in his final 16 games.

The Rockies already had budding star Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop. Now they have a fielder with above-average range and throwing at second.

“He adds a dimension at second base as one of those field-awareness guys that’s one step ahead of the action that’s taking place,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “And this guy is absolute lightning turning the double play. The ball that’s thrown to him to start a 5- or a 6-4-3 double play, it’s interrupted. It doesn’t even look like it’s caught. It’s interrupted and it changes direction in order for it to start heading toward the first baseman.”

Scutaro also is expected to handle batting primarily second in the Rockies’ order, although it’s possible that Tracy could switch him and leadoff man Dexter Fowler on occasion. Scutaro hit toward the bottom of the Red Sox’s order last year.

“For me, it’s the same thing,” Scutaro said. “That’s how I made it to the big leagues. I’m not a power hitter and RBI guy. My game is to get on base, take the extra base, get into scoring position for the big guys and score runs.”

========================

And on the The Iroquois, docked just outside the Rockies Spring Training Camp, we’re told by reliable sources that gentle sobbing could be heard coming from the captain’s cabin when this article was read over several appletinis!

Wait a minute! The Red Sox do their spring training in Ft. Myers, FL. Why the heck are John Henry and his entourage headed for Scottsdale, AZ?!

Because that’s where the Colorado Rockies, and more importantly, Marco Scutaro, will do their spring training! Duh!

So instead of ordering the captain of his yacht, the Iroquois, to set a course for the Gulf and Ft. Myers, we have heard that John H. ordered the skipper to “get this boat to Scottsdale and pronto!”

As most of the western world knows, Scottsdale, AZ is landlocked, so the only choice the skipper and his crew had was to, unbeknownst to John, hoist the Iroquois onto a mega trailer and start down the Mass Pike to Arizona!

So today the Red Sox equipment van heads for Ft. Myers and John, wife “Judy” and the Iroquois head for Scottsdale!

As the name implies, these Marco Scutaro Updates (“Scoot-Dates”) will be issued from time to time to update his loyal followers on earlier Scoot exploits!

Xmas Update – Loyal Scoot Follower Fran is reporting that the REAL problem Santa ran into during his preparation for Xmas Day this year was that he imported South Pole elves to meet the elf-shortage (no pun intended) he ran into this Fall. Because of the historical animosity (hatred, really) that existed between North Pole and South Pole elves, Santa knew that importing South Pole elves would create a potential time bomb at the Village, but in his usual Ho, Ho, Ho style, Santa thought he could handle it!

Then Santa came down with the flu – that’s when all hell broke loose! Luckily, Scoot and Santa had worked together a number of years ago on a similar problem so, of course, St. Nick turned to Scoot to save Xmas Day!

As reported earlier, Scoot confronted Ralph, the Angriest Elf, about the North-South elf issue as well as Ralph’s anger at never getting a chance to drive one of the sleighs. (Yes, there’s more than one sleigh – how else could Santa get all those presents delivered in just one night?!)

Luckily Ralph, a native North Pole elf, though still angry, had taken a liking to Rowena, one of the South Pole elves. That blossoming relationship plus Scoot’s intervention helped cool the situation enough so that the toy building could get back on schedule.

Where would the world be without Marco Scutaro?! Not a pretty thought, is it!