If free agency were like a high-school dance, then Alex Gonzalez was the sweet, friendly, reliable girl in the corner, and the Red Sox were the confident gent scanning the room for the flashiest partner.

The Red Sox told Gonzalez they might like a twirl, but only after they’d checked around to see whether any of the other, more-enticing choices wanted to dance.

Gonzalez didn’t want to wait. Another suitor, the Toronto Blue Jays, jumped in, and now Gonzalez will play shortstop in Canada in 2010.

Gonzalez, who spent the latter third of the 2009 season manning the shortstop position, was no sure thing to return to Boston regardless. He was a viable insurance policy if the Sox decided they didn’t want to take the plunge with one of the pricier free agents, say Marco Scutaro or Miguel Tejada.

Then it became clear Thursday that Gonzalez would ink a $2.75-million deal with the Blue Jays, with a $2.5-million option for 2011. The Boston Globe reported that the Sox were prepared to offer Gonzalez a one-year, $3-million contract, but the shortstop wasn’t going to sit around while the Red Sox checked out other pickings.

That move dramatically increases the chances that either Scutaro or Tejada could join Boston this winter, both on short- to mid-term deals as the Sox prep their shortstop of the future, 19-year-old Jose Iglesias.

At this point, the best available fit is probably Scutaro, a solid defensive shortstop with excellent pitch recognition coming off a career year. But Scutaro’s price will be high, and he will probably seek a three-year deal.

After years of bouncing around as an average middle infielder, Scutaro improved his walk rate the past two seasons, and that has helped him poke his head above the rest of the pack at shortstop.

Scutaro hit .282 with a .379 on-base percentage, while hitting 12 home runs, driving in 60, scoring 100, and stealing 14 bases for good measure. It was hands-down the best season of his career, but he also turned in a good 2008 for Toronto, leading to hope that his strong play will continue even as he hits his mid-30s.

Scutaro’s idea of plate discipline is right up Boston’s alley. He takes a lot of pitches, doesn’t strike out a lot, and doesn’t swing at bad pitches. On top of that, he plays decent defense at short, and can play all around the infield. His hitting style would also work well at the top of the order, where Jacoby Ellsbury is a skilled but developing leadoff man without the on-base acumen that Scutaro has shown of late.

He turned 34 last month, but the right-handed hitter didn’t make his major-league debut until he was 26, and has played more than 140 games only twice — 2008 and 2009.

The other big name on the shortstop market, Tejada, had a bounce-back year with 199 hits in 2009, but he is two years older, doesn’t field nearly as well or walk as much, and is less versatile defensively.

Both Scutaro and Tejada are Type A free agents, meaning Boston would have to give up a first-round draft pick as compensation.

With Nick Green moving on to free agency, the only in-house option at short is Jed Lowrie, the injury-plagued infielder who GM Theo Epstein has made clear is not someone the Red Sox are ready to trust as their everyday shortstop. But Lowrie is versatile, and a combination of Scutaro, Lowrie, and Kevin Youkilis together gives Terry Francona a number of options when moving pieces around the infield to give players rest.

Other options exist as well.

Felipe Lopez is technically available, but the 30-year-old infielder last played short regularly in 2007, wasn’t great then, and is probably somewhat overvalued after having a career year in 2009.

Lopez, at least, is a Type B free agent, so he would not cost Boston a first-round pick as compensation.

Defense-minded Adam Everett remains on the market, as do Bobby Crosby, Khalil Greene, and Jerry Hairston Jr. Omar Vizquel would have been a decent possibility, but he recently signed with the Chicago White Sox.

None offer the solid package of skills that Scutaro does — but it remains to be seen whether the shortstop will want to take a shorter deal coming off the best season of his career.