Let's Play Two: The MLB's All-Time Converted Player Team

The Los Angeles Dodgers sure know how to find their catchers. They drafted Mike Piazza in 1988 and converted him into a catcher, and all he did was go on to become the best offensive catcher in MLB history.

Now it's Russell Martin's turn to show everyone why he should be considered the next Piazza.

Already one of the premier catchers in the league, there is no doubt that Martin has played a key role for Los Angeles since being called up in 2006.

Like Piazza, Martin wasn't drafted to be a catcher—he was originally a third baseman when he was drafted in the 17th round in 2002.

However, he showed so much promise behind the plate in rookie-league ball that they moved him there permanently.

His ability to hit for both average and power, combined with his great speed, makes him an offensive threat.

He isn't too bad behind the plate, either—he won a Gold Glove in 2007 and can throw baserunners out at will.

Jimmie Foxx was one of the most renowned power hitters of his era. Often referred to as the right-handed Babe Ruth, Double X ended his career with 534 round-trippers, second to the Bambino.

When he first came into the league, however, he nearly didn't get a chance to play until he permanently switched positions.

Foxx was an outstanding catcher in the minor leagues but was stuck behind fellow Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane on the depth chart when he joined the Philadelphia A's in 1925.

As a result, he scrounged for playing time, starting games at third base, first base, and outfield.

It wasn't until five years later that Foxx had a full-time starting gig, at first base.

The move from catcher to first base is a popular switch, often for aging backstops who are trying to avoid the rigors of catching every day.

Foxx, however, made this switch towards the beginning of his career just to stay in the big leagues, and he never looked back.

I originally had Dustin Pedroia here in the first draft of my article. With all due respect to Pedroia and Red Sox Nation, but I completely forgot about Craig Biggio, a solid catcher who tried his hand at second base in 1992 and didn't look back since.

Biggio came up in 1988 as a catcher after putting up solid numbers in AAA.
He seamlessly translated his game to the majors, catching Nolan Ryan's no-hitter in his rookie year. In his In his first full season in 1989, he earned the starting catcher's role and winning a Silver Slugger that same year.

Among all of his skills, Biggio had uncanny speed for a catcher. Astros management wanted to utilize that speed better, and experimented with moving him to the outfield in 1990.

He then moved to second base in 1992 and put up Cooperstown-caliber numbers there. In addition to his 3,060 hits, Biggio knocked 291 home runs, swiped 414 bases, and won four Silver Sluggers and five Gold Gloves.

Biggio was always a bit underrated throughout his career, which may be a reason why I accidentally left him off the team in the first place. But with a career like this after switching positions, it's going to be hard not to notice him when his name comes up for the Hall of Fame.

Love him or hate him, there's not much denying that A-Rod is one of the top third basemen in the game today.

Has it really been five years since the Yankees traded for the former shortstop to fill their void at the hot corner?

When Aaron Boone, hero of the 2003 ALCS for New York, tore his ACL in a pickup basketball game, there weren't many options directly available for the Yankees.

When Drew Henson's name began to crop up as a potential replacement, they knew that they had to find someone from the outside.

So the Yankees decided to go big and trade for A-Rod, who was fresh off an MVP campaign, to fill the hole.

While Rodriguez hasn't shown the range and defensive prowess that won him two Gold Gloves in Texas, he's played a serviceable third base for the Yankees while providing a boost to the team's offensive numbers.

Remember how I said waaay back in the introductory slide that the notion of a player that switched positions wasn't necessarily a new idea?

Well, you can credit the Flying Dutchman for being one of the first prominent players to successfully convert from one position to another.

When Honus Wagner first broke into the league back in 1897 with the Louisville Cardinals, he was unable to find a regular spot in the lineup and played a little bit of everything.

The Cardinals folded two years later, and Wagner followed owner Barney Dreyfuss to Pittsburgh.

Despite winning the first of his many batting crowns in 1900, Wagner still didn't have a true place in the field.

He saw most of his playing time in the outfield, but it was never a permanent role, as he filled in at the infield positions if there was an injury.

After a long wait, Wagner would finally get his own spot in the infield. At the beginning of the 1903 season, the Pirates' regular shortstop, Wid Conroy, left the team, thereby allowing manager Fred Clarke to permanently convert Wagner to shortstop.

He responded by becoming one of the best players the game has ever seen, winning seven more batting crowns and a World Series title.

And to think, he almost was a career outfielder...

Part power pitcher, part slugger. All legend.

After joining the Red Sox in 1914, the Bambino took the American League by storm with his exceptional pitching.

A two-time 20-game winner, Ruth threw 17 shutouts—nine of them came during the 1916 season—and had a career 94-46 record.

All the while, his power swing was beginning to show itself, to the point that he slowly began transitioning to an everyday role in the outfield just so he could use that phenomenal power stroke.

Upon being sold to the Yankees before the 1920 season, he became a permanent outfielder, allowing him to do what he did best—hit home runs day in and day out.

And hit home runs he did—714 of them, to be exact.

Rick Ankiel's conversion is one of the more popular feel-good stories in the majors.

An All-American pitcher in high school, Ankiel was named the High School Player of the Year by USA Today in 1997 and was drafted in the second round by the St. Louis Cardinals.

He had a meteoric rise through the Cardinals' farm system and was considered by many to be the top prospect in all of baseball.

His first full season in 2000 lived up to expectations. He had the ninth-best ERA in the National League and struck out 194 batters in 175 innings pitched.

Then came Game One of the NLDS—and his demise as a pitcher.

His pinpoint control inexplicably disappeared. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't return to his 2000 form, and he was ultimately sent down to St. Louis's rookie-league ballclub.

He then announced his switch to the outfield in 2005 and two years later found himself back in the big leagues as a power-hitting center fielder.

Since then, he's shown some solid pop in his bat and has flashed the leather on multiple occasions.

Although he's been battling some nagging injuries this year and has split time with Colby Rasmus, Ankiel has finally proven himself as a capable major leaguer.

At 27 years old, Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has already established himself as a great outfielder with a ton of potential.

So it might come as a surprise that Big League Choo was scouted by many MLB front offices as one of Korea's top young pitchers.

Choo was named MVP and Best Pitcher of the 2000 World Junior Baseball Championship in Edmonton, Canada with 33 strikeouts for the gold-medal South Korean team.

He signed a minor-league deal with Seattle that same year. However, Mariners brass thought he'd be able to handle a switch to the outfield and decided to start him off in rookie-league ball to help him get acclimated to both the positional switch and the American lifestyle.

It was a decision that's worked for Choo so far and will inevitably continue to pay dividends in the future.

If there was one thing that Bob Lemon knew how to do well, it was win games. The sinkerballer won 20 or more games seven times for the Cleveland Indians, compiling a 207-128 career record with two World Series titles to boot.

It almost didn't turn out that way, however.

Lemon originally joined the Indians as a third baseman. He made his big-league debut at the hot corner in 1941, five years before his first mound appearance.

However, he struggled at the plate in limited playing time, going 1-for-9 in 10 games from 1941-42.

Manager Lou Boudreau saw Lemon's athletic ability and arm power and suggested he try his hand at pitching.

Lemon took an on-the-job approach to his conversion, pitching in Hawaii during World War II and learning from the likes of Bob Feller, Early Wynn, and Mike Garcia upon returning—not too bad of a group to shadow.

In addition to his successful managerial career, Lemon achieved baseball's ultimate honor in 1976 when he was nominated to the Hall of Fame.

Thanks to a successful conversion into the rotation, Lemon will forever be remembered as one of baseball's greatest pitchers.

This one was an extremely tough choice—it was either going to be Hoffman or Mariano Rivera, two outstanding pitchers who've revolutionized the closer's role.

The reason why I picked Hoffman for this role was his background. Mariano was a starter when he came up to the Yankees in 1995 but then wound up in the bullpen.

Hoffman—well, his story is a bit different. He was drafted by the Reds in the 11th round in 1989...as a shortstop.

Known for his hitting prowess at the University of Arizona, Hoffman suddenly lost his ability to make contact with the ball with Single-A Charleston, hitting .212 in 103 games played at shortstop.

He accepted a move to the bullpen, knowing that it was his last shot at making the majors.

Twenty years and 576 saves later, Hoffman is undoubtedly headed for Cooperstown.

Who knows? Maybe Tony Peña Jr. will follow in his footsteps as a light-hitting shortstop that became a dominant pitcher...