Previewing 10 Heated MLB Position Battles After Pile of 2016 Offseason Moves
Not only are we still in the year 2016, but we also haven't even gotten past the holidays yet. Spring training is but a glimmer on the Major League Baseball horizon.
And yet, I can already make out some of the position battles people will be talking about.
While there's still plenty of hot stove wheeling and dealing for the league to take care of, enough has gone down to highlight positions that are settled and positions that are not. Let's focus our attention on the latter and preview 10 position battles that figure to be the most heated come spring training.
First, some ground rules. Position battles on contending teams carry more weight, so the list ahead consists exclusively of such battles. The rankings are unscientific but generally relate to the intrigue of the players and positions involved and the team overseeing it all.
Now then, let's take it away...
10. Chicago Cubs Center Field
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Dexter Fowler did good things in center field for the Chicago Cubs in 2015 and 2016. But he's gone now, having turned his coat and joined up with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Fowler leaving did seem like a foregone conclusion, however. The real question all along was how comfortable the defending champs would be with turning his job over to former first-rounder Albert Almora.
Not very, apparently.
"I wouldn't rule out the job being [Almora's], but I think it would be more likely that we would acquire someone to complement him and allow him to grow into the job more gradually," Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said in November, via Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
The solution was to sign Jon Jay, who's coming off two rough years but is also a career .287 hitter. He's low-risk insurance for Almora. Another option is to slide Jason Heyward over to center if need be.
Point being: Chicago's center field job is not so much Almora's to lose as it is his to earn.
His glove should be up to the task, as he's widely regarded as an above-average fielder. But he'll need to show the Cubs he has the bat for the job, preferably by showing plate discipline that has thus far eluded him. He was a .290 hitter in the minors, but with only a .322 on-base percentage.
9. San Francisco Giants Left Field
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The San Francisco Giants blew all their hot stove spending money on Mark Melancon. That means no money to re-sign Angel Pagan to play left field, and maybe no money to trade for J.D. Martinez either.
So for now, the position belongs to the kids: Jarrett Parker and Mac Williamson.
Now, I say "kids" because they're not old. But at 27 and 26, respectively, they're not young either. It's no wonder the Giants are only half-committed to giving Parker and Williamson their shot.
"They're not getting any younger and they deserve an opportunity," Giants general manager Bobby Evans told Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area. "But we also are not going to give them the jobs. They have to come out there and earn them and there will be competition and other options."
This also isn't an either/or battle. The left-handed-hitting Parker owns a .942 OPS against right-handers in the majors. Williamson is a right-handed swinger with a solid .722 OPS against southpaws. They profile as a decent platoon tandem.
Rather, the battle here is between Parker and Williamson and any better options that might be staring the Giants in the face this spring. Martinez could be one of them, and there could also be solid options still floating on the open market.
8. Washington Nationals Closer
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WARNING: This is subject to change. The Washington Nationals haven't signed or traded for a proven closer to replace Melancon yet, but it could only be a matter of time before they do.
But as Chelsea Janes covered at the Washington Post, an uncertain closer situation is nothing new for the Nats. If they don't mind living with the status quo, they'll move ahead and try to find an answer in house.
There's plenty of support on the internet for Shawn Kelley to fill Melancon's shoes, and for good reasons. He's always been a good strikeout pitcher, and is now coming off a 2016 season in which he had an outstanding 7.27 strikeout-to-walk ratio to go with his 2.64 ERA.
Also in the mix is Blake Treinen. He doesn't have Kelley's control or ability to miss bats, but he does limit damage with a mid-90s sinker that keeps his infielders busy. His career ground-ball percentage is over 60 and rising every year.
These are two good options for the vacant role. And while neither of them is anything close to a proven closer, here's your periodic reminder that anyone can become a proven closer.
Just within the last couple of years, Zach Britton, Wade Davis and Jeurys Familia became proven closers basically overnight. It's a job few guys do, but also a job anybody can do.
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7. Texas Rangers First Base/DH
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In the last few months, the Texas Rangers have lost Prince Fielder to an early retirement and Mitch Moreland and Carlos Beltran to free agency.
This sure sounds like an excuse to splurge on a free-agent slugger. But for now, the Rangers seem content to issue at-bats at first base and designated hitter to a ragtag group of in-house options.
Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram characterized it as a three-way battle between Ryan Rua, Joey Gallo and Jurickson Profar. The last two names ring all the bells due to their former status as elite prospects, but both face challenges.
With a swing-and-miss problem that's no longer even a small secret, Gallo may not be ready yet. Texas GM Jon Daniels told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News that Gallo would ideally get "a little more time" in the minors to start 2017.
Profar, for his part, is a natural shortstop with limited experience at first base. His 184 games in the majors have also been a roller-coaster ride at the plate.
But while Profar's iffy fit and Gallo's questionable readiness would seem to give Rua the inside track at regular at-bats, he's no prize himself. With just a .712 career OPS and non-legendary defensive skills, all he has over Gallo and Profar is experience and some semblance of consistency. Not difficult things to overcome.
6. New York Yankees First Base/Right Field
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In quick succession, the New York Yankees traded Beltran and said goodbye to Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira as they went into retirement.
That left a DH hole to fill, but the Yankees have since taken care of that by signing Matt Holliday. At first base and right field, they're now going to find out if the kids are alright. Greg Bird, Tyler Austin, Rob Refsnyder and Aaron Judge are all in play for regular playing time in 2017.
The Yankees' perfect-world scenario involves handing first base to Bird and right field to Judge. The former was a fast-rising prospect who debuted with an .871 OPS in 2015. The latter currently checks in at No. 22 on MLB.com's prospect rankings.
However, these two aren't sure things. Bird is coming off shoulder surgery that sidelined him for all of 2016. Judge is coming off a rough introduction to the majors in which he posted a .608 OPS in 27 games.
Bird could thus be pushed by Austin and Refsnyder, two well-regarded young talents in their own right, at first base. They also have the versatility to push Judge for playing time in right field, with 27-year-old Aaron Hicks looming as a threat to ascend from a projected fourth outfielder role.
Basically, the only youngster with a set job in New York's lineup is Gary Sanchez behind the plate. The others will duke it out.
5. Los Angeles Dodgers Outfield
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The Los Angeles Dodgers lost Josh Reddick to free agency, but they haven't yet ditched the outfield surplus that has been following them like Michael Myers after Jamie Lee Curtis.
After putting up an .847 OPS with 25 home runs in 2016, Joc Pederson is safe in center field. He'll be platooned against left-handers, but there will be a right-hander on the mound more often than not.
The corner outfield spots are another matter. Yasiel Puig is still an iffy candidate to play every day, so that leaves time in left field and right field up for grabs between him, Andre Ethier, Andrew Toles, Trayce Thompson and Scott Van Slyke.
The Dodgers won't commit to an everyday player in either spot. But the pecking order of their platoons will have to come into focus this spring. Ethier and Toles will jockey for playing time against right-handers. Puig, Thompson and Van Slyke will do the same for playing time against left-handers.
This is assuming that the Dodgers are even committed to moving ahead with what they have. They might not be, so the in-house options will also be fighting to keep two job openings turning into one or even zero.
4. Boston Red Sox Third Base
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The Boston Red Sox began the winter with lots of depth at third base. But then they traded Travis Shaw and stud prospect Yoan Moncada and the thought became clear...
Holy moly, they're handing the job to Pablo Sandoval, aren't they?
Sure seems that way. The former Giants All-Star and World Series MVP is now No. 1 on Boston's third base depth chart. That's a risky proposition, given his terrible Red Sox debut in 2015 and the shoulder surgery that ended his 2016 season early.
At least Sandoval, 30, won't take up as much space in the dugout. As Dayn Perry chronicled at CBSSports.com, the offseason has brought update after update on Sandoval's much-improved physical condition. Meanwhile, his big boss sounds optimistic.
"One of the keys for us is going to be Panda," Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told Jesse Yomtov of USA Today. "That's not to put it all on him, but here's a left-handed bat who is a proven guy and has every opportunity to make a major impact on our team this year."
Still, Sandoval will at least be battling heightened expectations when he takes the field this spring. If he doesn't own that battle, the Red Sox have the option of choosing Brock Holt's stability at third base rather than Sandoval's upside.
3. Boston Red Sox Starting Rotation
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Every team in the majors will need to figure out the back end of their starting rotation in spring training. Most of the competitions aren't even worth talking about.
This one is.
The Red Sox did trade Clay Buchholz this week, and Paul Swydan of FanGraphs is right about that bringing more clarity to their rotation situation. But there are still two open spots behind the vaunted trio of Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello, and Boston's three options aren't the standard back-end rotation fare.
One contestant is left-hander Drew Pomeranz, a 2016 All-Star with a nasty curveball. Another is right-hander Steven Wright, another 2016 All-Star with a GIF-able knuckleball. The other is Eduardo Rodriguez, a former top prospect with a mid-90s fastball.
These are three really good options, and right now the Red Sox aren't leaning in any particular directions for the final two spots. Dombrowski told Bill Chastain of MLB.com that the club would "just sort of sort through that as we go through."
Another thing to keep in mind: The Red Sox's starting pitching excess is a nice thing for them to have in market devoid of free-agent pitching talent. Another trade is highly unlikely, but not impossible.
2. New York Mets Outfield
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When the New York Mets re-signed Yoenis Cespedes, they retained the power hitter they really couldn't afford to lose.
Of course, they also added another corner outfield type to an outfield loaded with corner outfield types. The Mets have Cespedes, Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto lined up for regular action in 2017, none of whom is a true center fielder.
The Mets could solve this by making a few moves. But as Ken Rosenthal broke down at Fox Sports, doing so is no picnic. They'd have to move one or several of their incumbent outfielders, and Conforto may be the only one teams want. And simply by backing themselves into the corner they're in now, they haven't helped their leverage with teams that have center fielders to trade.
If the situation isn't resolved via trade, somebody in the Cespedes-Granderson-Bruce-Conforto circle is going to have to fall on the sword of being at least a semi-everyday center fielder.
What would be really interesting is if Juan Lagares gets hot this spring and re-establishes his bat to go along with his excellent glove. That would turn a cluster-mess into a...Well, what's above a cluster-mess?
Not sure. Maybe we'll find out.
1. Pittsburgh Pirates Center Field
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At the outset of the winter meetings, it sure seemed like the Pittsburgh Pirates were this close to trading Andrew McCutchen and moving All-Star left fielder Starling Marte to center field.
But now things are awkward. McCutchen wasn't traded, and every indication is that the Pirates know they missed their window. But they're also not committed to keeping him in center field. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported they want to discuss a possible move to left field or right field.
This is a defensible idea after the former National League MVP posted minus-28 defensive runs saved in 2016. But Mike Petriello of MLB.com wrote about how McCutchen may have been hurt by his positioning more than by aging athleticism. Also, the man himself hasn't been keen on moving.
"I don't see myself needing to move. I don't feel like I'm slowing down and hurting my team because of where I play," McCutchen told Adam Berry of MLB.com in October. "Playing center field is one thing, but being a leader out there is another. That's something we need."
It's unclear how the Pirates are going to play this situation. If they put their foot down and swap McCutchen and Marte before spring training, there will be no competition.
But if they throw McCutchen a bone and give him a chance to prove he deserves to stay in center field, two All-Stars will have their eyes on the same important position. Fun times.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.
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