There may be more pressing needs this offseason, such as making room in the starting rotation or finding a middle of the order bat, but I have been eagerly awaiting the day that Yuniesky Betancout might be jettisoned to another team via trade, or pushed to the bench by some stiff competition.

As I mentioned, there are more important issues, but if you’re a regular reader you’ll know that I have never been much of a Yu-Bet fan and I would love nothing more than for him to be replaced with someone better (aka just about anyone).

There were rumors a while back that the St. Louis Cardinals were interested in Betancourt, but they went out and acquired Khalil Greene from the San Diego Padres instead.  The Arizona Diamondbacks were interested in either Yuni or Jose Lopez to play second base for them, but nothing has come of those talks, either.  My top three cheap free agents to replace Yuni this offseason– Adam Everett, Cesar Izturiz and Nick Punto– are all off the board as well.

For all I know, GM Jack Zduriencik may be content using Betancourt next season, but Yuni isn’t the type of player Z is fond of.  Looking at past Brewers drafts and the dozen or so player moves he’s made so far with Seattle, Zduriencik seems to like players that are fantastic defenders, or offer a combination of power and patience.  Betancourt is about as far away as he can get from matching either player type.

So, here are a few ideas as to how Betancourt could be replaced this offseason:

Trade for Chin-Lung Hu

With Rafael Furcal signed for the next three seasons and Ivan DeJesus ready to take over after that, the Los Angeles Dodgers have no real use for Hu.  A former top-5 prospect (and still within the top-10 or 15 at least), Hu is a plus defender at shortstop and has shown some ability at the plate as well.  His career minor league line stands at .298/.343/.421.  He walks at an average clip and how shown a bit of power in the last couple of seasons.  This past season his numbers were down, but a lot of that has been attributed to some sort of eye problem/injury he had.

What would it take to pry Hu away?  Considering they have a full infield that is under team control for the next few seasons, the Dodgers have no reason to keep Hu unless they want to waste him as a utility guy.   He’s still an unproven talent and only 24 years old, so he won’t come for nothing, but I don’t think he’ll cost a ton either.

The Dodgers could use a reliever after non-tendering Takashi Saito, so Aaron Heilman immediately comes to mind.  Otherwise, the Mariners and Dodgers could match up on a few salary dumps, so perhaps Hu could be worked into another deal.  Any suggestions?

Trade for Jack Wilson

The Pittsburgh Pirates were thought to have come close to dealing their overpaid shortstop to either the Detroit Tigers or Los Angeles Dodgers.  Instead, the Tigers went with Adam Everett and the Dodgers have signed Furcal.

Considering the steep price that Pirates GM Neal Huntington put on Wilson, I’m inclined to think that they’re in no hurry to relieve themselves of his salary.  That said, it could have just been a backfired plan.  Now that Wilson’s market has completely dissolved, would they be willing to dump his salary for a minimal return?

It depends on whether they think Brian Bixler can handle the position full time, or perhaps they’d like Betancourt in return.  They were once very high on him, though that may have been pre-Huntington. Either way, it would be a situation worth exploring, in my opinion.

Wilson gives you the about the same offense that Betancourt does, or slightly better depending on how you’d like to weigh it, but his defense is among the best in the league.  The improvement wouldn’t seem like much at first, but it would indeed be significant and I’d be willing to dish out an extra ~$3M per season at the shortstop position to help out our pitch-to-contact staff.

Sign Omar Vizquel

Vizquel is old, having originally signed with the Seattle Mariners as an amateur free agent 25 years ago, and hasn’t shown much at the plate since 2006. However, the 41 year old still has something to offer.

Vizquel was arguably the best defensive shortstop in baseball as recently as 2007.  Last season he missed a large chunk of the season with a right knee injury, but still managed to be a top-10 defender at the position.

That right knee has been hindering him for about a decade, and some believe it’s what has dragged him offensive production down the past two years, while most people default to his aging.  He had surgery and is expected to be healthy for next season.

I would be all for taking a chance on Vizquel on a one year deal worth $1-2M.  If his bat comes back, he could get the majority of the starts at shortstop and Seattle would have quite a bargain.  If not, him and Betancourt could split time 50-50.  Yuni would benefit from playing behind the legend he was supposed to be emulating, and it would also be a nice wake up call for him as he’d see that the organization isn’t going to tolerate his laziness.

Seattle was reportedly in contact with Vizquel earlier this offseason.

Other potential MLB trade targets:

Miguel Tejada – Astros are facing tough times financially and need to move his contract.  Tejada can still hit and improved his fielding this past year.

Ryan Theriot – I’ve read that the Cubs aren’t very high on The Riot and are willing to move him.  He’s a better fit as a second baseman, but he is an average defensive shortstop at very least.  Offensively, he’s mostly a singles hitter but walks and gets on base enough to be a good option hitting second.  Alternatively, if they decide they like Theriot, Ronny Cedeno could be available.

Emmanuell Burriss – Displaced Giants shortstop wouldn’t be a huge upgrade over Betancourt, but would be an upgrade.

Jason Bartlett – Some are saying he’s available.  I seriously doubt it, but he’d be worth asking about.

Julio Lugo – Every day I dream of a bad contract swap involving Lugo and Kenji Johjima.  It seems entirely feasible to me and I’ve brought it up a few times, but no one else sees it as a possibility.  Maybe it’s wishful thinking.