Scutaro Contract

Maybe not quite a "steal", but considering Lugo was getting $9 million, this is a very acceptable contract (it's not my money either way, but I'm liking this deal more and more):

2010 - $5
2011 - $5
2012 - Options: $6 club
                $3 player
                $1.5 club buyout

Gammons:

Baird put Scutaro through a series of hard workouts in Miami and told Epstein that he thought Scutaro is ready to play. In fact, Scutaro thought so as well, and was planning to go play in Venezuela. ...

In mid-July, Scutaro's defensive metrics -- according to three teams' valuations -- were the best in the American League. Then the foot began bothering him ...

"He's one of the best shortstops, period," Ricciardi said. "He's a guy that's going to be able to play at this level until he's 37 or 38. He works at it. Look, this is a great signing. He's a really smart player. He's a great base runner. He keeps improving (his on base percentage has risen from .332 to .341 to .379 the last three seasons). He grinds at-bats (he led all shortstops in pitches per at-bat). He could bat leadoff and they could let Dustin Pedoria bat third. He can do a lot of things." ..

"We still have a lot to do," Epstein said.