I’m not sure why any team would feel the need to give a multi-year contract to a 36-year-old, career-long utility infielder with a lifetime OPS under .700, but the Reds did just that by inking Miguel Cairo to a two-year deal.
In fairness Cairo is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, hitting .290/.353/.410 for his highest OPS since 2004, but that came in just 266 plate appearances and ... well, it’s pretty safe to conclude it was a fluke considering he hit a combined .249 with a .298 on-base percentage and .330 slugging percentage in the previous five seasons.
He’s a useful enough spare part to have around, but he’s no longer a true utility infielder in that he hasn’t started multiple games at shortstop since 2007 and guys like Cairo are available cheaply every offseason. Re-signing him for 2011 is perfectly reasonable if the price is low enough, but committing to him for 2012 at age 38 is just weird.
