Troy Tulowitzki, Joe Mauer and More MLB Stars Who Need New Positions

Colorado Rockies star Troy Tulowitzki is one of the best shortstops in baseball. He's got great range, a great arm and he's won Gold Gloves at short each of the last two years.

He may, however, be on the move.

There's been talk of Tulowitzki possibly moving to third base in the past, and Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post noted this week that this talk should only intensify now that Tulo is going to be out for eight weeks so he can have scar tissue surgically removed from his groin.

Typically, we see shortstops get moved to third base either due to circumstances beyond their control (Hanley Ramirez) or because they're no longer physically capable of playing short (Cal Ripken, Jr.). The notion of taking a shortstop in his prime like Tulo and moving him to third base is indeed a little unusual.

But if changing Tulo's position will keep him healthy and prolong his career, so be it. That's the smart thing for the Rockies to do.

Tulo's situation got us to thinking. Are there any other players around the league who are due for a position change?

There most certainly are. Let's take a look. 

Miguel Cabrera/Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers

The Tigers are not a good defensive team, and a big reason for that is their lousy infield defense.

A big reason why their infield defense is so lousy, of course, is because they have two of the worst defensive players in baseball on the corners.

Miguel Cabrera is back at third base this season after playing pretty much exclusively at first base every year since joining the Tigers in 2008. He wasn't all that great at first base, and he's just as bad at third. Statistically, FanGraphs has him listed as the worst defensive third baseman in baseball.

Prince Fielder, meanwhile, is listed as the worst defensive first baseman in baseball, which should come as no huge shock given his defensive reputation.

The Tigers can't afford to play both of these guys in the field day in and day out. One of them has to become a DH, and stay a DH. 

With Delmon Young set to come off the books after this season, that's very much possible.

Yoenis Cespedes, Oakland Athletics

The Oakland A's seem to have gotten the point. Per Baseball-Reference.com, they've started Yoenis Cespedes in left field in five of the 10 games he's played in this month.

...But he's still gotten some time out in center field, and that's what has to change.

Cespedes definitely has the athleticism to handle center field duties. What he lacks is the know-how, and his hamstrings haven't responded well to playing in center at all.

Per FanGraphs, Cespedes has a -4.8 UZR and a -11 DRS (defensive runs saved) in center field this season, numbers that put him on the same level as Curtis Granderson in terms of defensive ineptitude.

He hasn't been much better in left, mind you, but left field is the best spot for him because there's less ground for him to cover. Less ground to cover means less risk of him coming down with nagging leg injuries. It's science.

Plus, Coco Crisp is a guy that belongs in center field. He used to be one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball. That ship has sailed, but he's still really good. Much better than Cespedes, anyway.

If the A's continue to play Cespedes in center, they'll be asking for trouble.

Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

Yup, I'm going here.

Never mind what his five Gold Gloves say about his defense. Derek Jeter has never been a premiere defensive shortstop. Even in his younger days, he was just decent in the field.

These days, Jeter is downright bad. He may have a respectable .979 fielding percentage, but the advanced metrics all suggest that he's baseball's worst defensive shortstop.

Per FanGraphs, Jeter's -10.5 UZR currently ranks dead last among qualified major league shortstops. His DRS is minus-eight, ranking him just ahead of Dee Gordon and Jose Reyes.

Yes, Jeter still has good instincts. He deserves that much credit. But let's face it. He's old and he can't move like he used to. A lot of plays he used to be able to make aren't being made.

Brian Cashman knows what the score is when it comes to Jeter's defense. According to ESPNNewYork.com, he even admitted that Jeter may move to center field in the future, a la Robin Yount in the 1980s.

I'm pretty sure my head will actually explode once I see Jeter in center field, but I'll admit it's a possibility. So is third base, as Alex Rodriguez has also become a subpar defender and should be considered a full-time DH candidate.

Wherever Jeter ends up, the Yankees need to play him somewhere other than shortstop. That's not his domain anymore.

Jed Lowrie, Houston Astros

The Jed Lowrie situation is an interesting one.

Before this season, Lowrie was billed as a good hitting shortstop who unfortunately had problems with a) injuries and b) defense.

Against all odds, Lowrie has managed to stay healthy this season. Furthermore, he's actually been halfway decent in the field. Per FanGraphs, his UZR checks in at 0.1 and his DRS is only minus-three. He's not the next coming of Omar Vizquel, but he's not as bad as Jeter either.

Still...

The issue with having Lowrie at short is that it's a position that tends to come with a lot of wear and tear. A guy like Troy Tulowitzki, an exceptional athlete by any measure, is Exhibit A. Lowrie is not an exceptional athlete, and he already has a laundry list of injuries in his history. That doesn't bode well.

So moving him away from shortstop is in the Astros' interest. If they happen to trade him to another club this season or next, that club should also look into making the switch.

Fortunately, Lowrie is versatile. He played plenty of third base while he was in Boston, and he played well there. He also played well at second base, a position that he seems particularly well-suited for.

Lowrie will never be a great defensive player, but the idea when it comes to him should be to make sure he's healthy so his bat can stay in the lineup. Moving him away from shortstop is the best way to minimize the risk of him getting hurt.

Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

At some point in the near future, Joe Mauer should catch his last game for the Minnesota Twins. 

Of course, the Twins have already gone to great lengths to make sure Mauer gets out from back behind the plate on occasion. He's played 12 games at first base this season, and 16 as a designated hitter, per Yahoo! Sports.

He's still spent the majority of his time in the crouch, though, and that's where the Twins are pushing their luck.

They know as well as anyone that Mauer has trouble staying healthy, and catcher is a position where injuries can happen at any time. Heck, Mauer is currently trying to recover from an injury right now, as he suffered a bruised quad in a collision with Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks this past Sunday.

Mauer still rates as an above-average defensive catcher, but the primary concern for the Twins going forward is the same as it's always been: What can they do to keep Mauer's bat in the lineup?

It's simple: He either needs to be a full-time DH or a full-time first baseman. 

The Twins can make him a full-time DH anytime. They'll be able to make him a full-time first baseman once Justin Morneau is out of the picture. That could happen via a trade this season, or when he walks after his contract comes to an end next season.

Jesus Montero, Seattle Mariners

Speaking of catchers who shouldn't be catchers, Jesus Montero has no business being a catcher.

Like, ever.

ESPN's Keith Law wrote before the start of the season that Montero wasn't a true answer at the catcher position, and he hasn't done much this season to dispel this notion. He calls a decent game, but he has too many pitches get past him and he hasn't been able to deter runners from taking off.

The Mariners could try to keep working with Montero on catching, but the bigger concern for them should be getting Montero to develop as a hitter. He's got a ton of talent in that department, but his .301 on-base percentage and his hideous 5.0 walk rate (per FanGraphs) are pretty clear signs that there's still a lot of work left to be done.

The Mariners shouldn't kid themselves into thinking that they might have the next Pudge Rodriguez on their hands. Their goal should be to turn Montero into the next Edgar Martinez. He has it in him to be a consistent force as a designated hitter.

Being a DH isn't exactly a badge of honor, to be sure. But hey, if the shoe fits...

Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants

Yup, I'm going here too.

By all accounts, Buster Posey has been a lot better this season than a lot of people expected him to be coming off last year's nasty injury. He's hitting .293 with an .807 OPS, and he's started 49 games (and counting) behind the plate.

His defense behind the plate has slipped a bit, though. His caught-stealing percentage is below 25 percent, which is a far cry from where it was in both 2010 and 2011. He's also on pace to make significantly more errors this season than he did back in 2010. Errors are overrated, but they say more about catchers than they do about other players.

But Posey's sagging defense isn't much of a concern compared to the concern over him getting injured again. Rest assured, that's the Giants' worst nightmare, and they've already seen it come true once.

Down the road, Posey should make the same switch that Mauer should make. Both of them need to go from being part-time first basemen to being full-time first basemen.

Before you scoff at the notion, consider this. Per Baseball-Reference.com, Posey has an OPS of 1.008 when playing first base this season, and an OPS of .918 when playing first base for his career. He has an OPS of .774 as a catcher this season, and an OPS of .795 as a catcher for his career.

Put simply, he's a better hitter when he plays first. That's something the Giants should want to exploit.

Hanley Ramirez, Miami Marlins

Hanley Ramirez was an awful defensive shortstop. He committed as many as 20 errors in a season three times and he routinely posted negative UZRs.

So how's the move to third base working out?

No so well, actually. We obviously have a small sample size to judge Ramirez by, but so far he has a negative UZR and a DRS of minus-five, according to FanGraphs. These figures place him among the worst defensive third basemen in baseball. 

The Marlins won't make a change this season. But before next season, they should give some serious consideration to moving Ramirez to center field.

According to Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post, the Marlins did actually consider moving Ramirez to center field after they signed Jose Reyes before ultimately choosing to move Ramirez to the hot corner. Emilio Bonifacio was moved to center field instead.

Well, Ramirez hasn't worked out at third, and Bonifacio wasn't doing so great in center before he got hurt. In fact, his defensive metrics are pretty bad.

What the Marlins should do is pull the old switcheroo: Ramirez in center, Bonifacio at third.

Bonifacio has played a little third base in the past, of course. And while he wasn't great, he wasn't really bad at third either.

As for Ramirez, well, he can't possibly be any worse in the outfield than he is on the infield.

...Right?

Mark Trumbo, Los Angeles Angels

Right off the bat, I'll admit that Mark Trumbo is a bit of an exception as far as this piece is concerned. 

He doesn't need a new position. He needs a position, period.

The plan heading into this season was for the Angels to use Trumbo at the hot corner, across the diamond from big-money free-agent signee and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. The plan was developing well, with Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times saying at one point before the start of the season that Trumbo looked poised to surpass the Angels' expectations for him at third base.

Um, nope.

In just 63 innings at the hot corner, Trumbo has put together a UZR of -2.7, according to FanGraphs. His UZR/150 is -99.8, which basically means he's about as useful at third base as you or I would be.

The Angels have all but abandoned the third base plan. Trumbo now plays exclusively in right field and left field, while occasionally filling in at DH. He's actually performed reasonably well in the outfield, but there's no mistaking the fact that he very much looks out of place.

The outfield will have to be Trumbo's home for now, but the long-term plan for the Angels should still be to make Trumbo fit at third base. He's got the right build for the hot corner, and it's a perfect home for his power. 

It will just take a lot of work.

Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies

Here's our man of the hour.

And no, I haven't changed my mind at any point during the previous slides. The Rockies should move Tulowitzki to third base.

What's strange is that Tulo actually projects as a perfect fit at the hot corner. He's big enough for the position, and he's got a gun for an arm and good hands. If he were to make the switch to third base, I'd put good money on him winning a Gold Glove at the hot corner as soon as 2013.

That would be the best of both worlds for the Rockies. If they do end up ordering Tulo to pack up his things and move to third, they'd be doing so simply to help him stay in the lineup. His defense is great, but they really can't afford to lose his bat for an extend amount of time (as they already have this season).

The timing for a move to third really couldn't be any better than it is right now. The Rockies don't have a major league third baseman, and it's at least conceivable that top prospect Nolan Arenado could be converted to first base as a potential heir apparent for Todd Helton.

Just throwing it out there.

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter.