Democracy triumphed last week as 81 voters voiced the opinion of their internet persona on a series of hypothetical solutions to the Reds shortstop "situation." With a plurality of votes (22%), "Move BP to short and try some configuration of Sutton and/or Frazier at 2B" captured the imagination of the electorate, with its promise of a change in position and hope for Frazier and Sutton to bring offense to the Reds' middle infield.

In order to inch closer to consensus, let's look at a revised ballot.

Keep Janish as fulltime starter

PROS:

• Costs no additional money
• Gets on base at a decent rate and offense likely to improve over a full year of MLB experience
• Excellent defense at a premium position, which may be good for at least 1 WAR
• On their shoestring budget, Reds may have to pay at least $2MM for the chance to net 1 win or so above what Janish offers

CONS:

• Has hit righties at an abysmal rate: .182/.273/.281 in the majors (264 PA), .238/.324/.358 in the minors (1204 PA)
• Projects to a sub-.700 OPS
• Offers zero power on a team in desperate need of it

Move Brandon Phillips to SS, Frazier and/or Sutton to 2B

PROS:

• Costs no additional money, unless Frazier stands to make more than Rosales next year somehow
• Allows Frazier to get MLB experience and find a role on the team, priming him to contribute to the 2011 squad
• Should gauge what Reds have in Sutton, who has put up a respectable .280/.378/.455 minor league line
• A platoon, with Frazier seeing time against some righties, could be quite productive: In the minors, Sutton is .281/.385/.469 vs. RHP, while Frazier is .334/.406/.576 (!) vs. LHP

CONS:

• Defense would be significantly downgraded at both positions. It's unclear how much worse BP would be than Janish, but there would be an adjustment period. Sutton plays a serviceable 2B, but Frazier could be very awkward there. Could negate any offensive improvements.
• Frazier may require more seasoning in Louisville and a platoon could be wasted service clock while he could be playing fulltime in AAA; Sutton's minor league success simply might not translate to being a semi-regular 2B at the major league level
• Entire experiment may not be worth the risk of the above: compromising the defense while "rushing" Frazier and putting to much faith in Sutton

Sign Craig Counsell

PROS:

• Relative to Scutaro et al., he can be signed for cheap, likely $3MM or less
• Had a great year in '09: .336 wOBA, .357 OBP, 2.8 WAR
• Has been a plus fielder at SS over his career; A look at UZR/150 over the last three seasons suggest he'd be competent to good
• If he could be signed for a year at $2MM or so, platooning him with Janish could be effective. His .290/.358/.415 lin against RHP last year may be the cheapest way to improve SS production without compromising defense.

CONS:

• Turns 40 next year. He's due to fall off a cliff and his 2.8 WAR season in '09 was surely an abberation. Projections that regress for age are likely to suggest, on the whole, that he's not going to be an improvement on Janish at all in 2010.
• Defense at SS could be more questionable that it appears.
• Price tag may be artificially inflated. Money may be better spent elsewhere.

Sign Felipe Lopez

PROS:

• .320./.407/.448, .358 wOBA. 4.6 WAR last year
• Has been a competent fielder in 300 games at 2B
• Hits LHP and RHP roughly equally

CONS:

• 2009 was an abberation which will run up his asking price. Something closer to his career .269/.338/.400 line is expected.
• Likely to be a multi-year deal as he heads heads toward the wrong side of 30
• May be residual bad blood with Reds organization, despite almost complete turnover since he left
• Is no longer a SS, so placing him at 2B would incur the BP-moving problems listed above

Trade for top tier young player

I'll reprise the info I listed in the previous post. Feel free to imagine other similarly cost-controlled players with upside. For the purposes of this exercise, only moves that are likely to affect SS in 2010 are considered, so any trade that yields a non-MLB ready SS falls under the "Keep Janish as MLB starter" category.

Erick Aybar (Angels)

The Angels have a potential logjam in their middle infield, but the cost in trade for would be dear. Unlikely to be wrested away for anything that wouldn't short-circuit the 2010 season and amount to a rebuilding gambit.

Reid Brignac or Sean Rodriguez (Rays)

Both have been mentioned as trade targets here before. Brignac plays good defense and his stock has gone up since last offseason, so any trade might have to start with Chris Heisey as a centerpiece. Rays have Barlett and Zobrist pretty well locked in at ss and 2b for the foreseeable future, so one of these two might be available. Zobrist may be headed to the OF to accomodate Brignac, so S-Rod could be had - though Geki maintains he may not stick at SS.

Jason Donald (Indians)

Seems doubtful the Indians would flip a lucrative piece of the Cliff Lee trade, but they're in desperate straits. According to TotalZone, he's a terrible defender.

Brent Lillibridge (White Sox)

A poor defender, but with the White Sox surplus at 2B and SS, coud be pried out cheaply and has quite a bit of upside.

Split Time between Sutton and Janish

See the above entry on Sutton.

PROS:

• No additional cost
• Could greatly improve SS offense against RHP

CONS:

• Sutton would provide substandard, possibly terrible defense at SS