Pirates Will Transition Oneil Cruz To Center Field

[Ron Madden]

Pirates Will Transition Oneil Cruz To Center Field

In a surprising development, the Pittsburgh Pirates will be transitioning Oneil Cruz to from shortstop to center field amidst his defensive deficiencies.

“We feel that center field is probably the best position for him and for the Pirates,” manager Derek Shelton said on the team’s decision.

In his first full season in the major leagues, Cruz has committed 24 errors at shortstop, which is second-most in the league regardless of position behind only Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (26 errors).

According to general manager Ben Cherington, the decision to shift Cruz to center field came together rather quickly.

Based off of the information provided by both Shelton and Cherington, it does not appear that this is an experiment for the final portion of the season. It doesn’t sound like a return to shortstop will happen, at least for the foreseeable future.

Full Story Here
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb...d=BingNewsVerp

[Kingspoint]

They should do this wil Elly.

Arroyo is too good Defensively not to play SS for the REDS.

Friedl isn't going to have a long career. He gets hurt too much and there's other factors. Friedl can move to another Outfield spot. McLain can play SS until Arroyo is ready to take over and India can stay at 2B. This opens up more DH opportunties for Stephenson and CES if India is at 2B, where he's better there than CES is at 1B, though CES didn't look that bad in his small sample size (he looked as good as Steer, which isn't saying much, and a heck of a lot better than Candelario, who needs to be jettisoned off of the team...addition by subtraction). India at 2B also opens up more DH time for Steer.

If we can get Santander for four years at $120M (I'd try for 3yrs/$90M or 2yrs/$65M, he may need to play some 1B and DH, too).

[Patrick Bateman]

Santander is at peak for sure, but I don’t view his free agent contract as a good idea. He’s already low batting average, low obp… that doesn’t age well. Find the next one via trade.


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[Kc61]

They should do this wil Elly.

Arroyo is too good Defensively not to play SS for the REDS.

Friedl isn't going to have a long career. He gets hurt too much and there's other factors. Friedl can move to another Outfield spot. McLain can play SS until Arroyo is ready to take over and India can stay at 2B. This opens up more DH opportunties for Stephenson and CES if India is at 2B, where he's better there than CES is at 1B, though CES didn't look that bad in his small sample size (he looked as good as Steer, which isn't saying much, and a heck of a lot better than Candelario, who needs to be jettisoned off of the team...addition by subtraction). India at 2B also opens up more DH time for Steer.

If we can get Santander for four years at $120M (I'd try for 3yrs/$90M or 2yrs/$65M, he may need to play some 1B and DH, too).

Arroyo just started AA ball and now has lost a season to injury. I wouldn’t move EDLC because of Arroyo. Arroyo has much to prove before he’s a big league contributor. Not only when, but if.

I don’t think Reds will move EDLC who has special tools as a shortstop. But if they do, it should have nothing to do with Arroyo. Simply a question where EDLC is best able to blossom and maximize his performance.

[Kingspoint]

Santander is at peak for sure, but I don’t view his free agent contract as a good idea. He’s already low batting average, low obp… that doesn’t age well. Find the next one via trade.


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I was only looking at the availabe Free Agents. A better team value could be had via trade. I agree that should be the target area for the REDS. Be willing to pay the prospect cost to make the trade happen. We are in year two of the Elly/Greene window and a major move needs to be done trading potential for probable sure thing.

[klw]

I assume no one will be dumb enough to try to run on Cruz's arm. Also it seems like there is no SS prospect on the horizon for Pitt in the next 2 or 3 years so it will be interesting to see how they address things longer term.

[Kingspoint]

Arroyo just started AA ball and now has lost a season to injury. I wouldn’t move EDLC because of Arroyo. Arroyo has much to prove before he’s a big league contributor. Not only when, but if.

I don’t think Reds will move EDLC who has special tools as a shortstop. But if they do, it should have nothing to do with Arroyo. Simply a question where EDLC is best able to blossom and maximize his performance.

Elly will need a year to practice in Centerfield, the same year Arroyo could use in the minors. It's highly likely that Arroyo will be ready by August to play SS. The best move of Arroyo would be as a trade candidate, but trading him coming off of this injury lowers his value.

[KeefeCato]

Elly won't be moved off SS. I doubt Arroyo will ever hit major league pitching anyway. Last thing I want is Elly crashing into OF walls.
Why move a generational talent off SS ? He is a elite defender. Forget the error totals. He is young. Once again Larkin in year 3 lead the league in errors. Elly's errors will decrease in time. He gets to balls that Arroyo wouldn't touch. No way Arroyo as great as he is has Elly's range.

[Kc61]

Elly will need a year to practice in Centerfield, the same year Arroyo could use in the minors. It's highly likely that Arroyo will be ready by August to play SS. The best move of Arroyo would be as a trade candidate, but trading him coming off of this injury lowers his value.

Again. We have no idea when Arroyo will be ready to help a big league team with pennant aspirations.

It could be 2025. It could be 2027. It could be never.

I’m not moving EDLC one inch because of Arroyo.

[KeefeCato]

Again. We have no idea when Arroyo will be ready to help a big league team with pennant aspirations.

It could be 2025. It could be 2027. It could be never.

I’m not moving EDLC one inch because of Arroyo.

Even the Reds aren't dumb enough to move Elly off SS. So I think it's a mute point.

[M2]

Cruz is pretty mammoth to be playing SS. Makes sense to switch him.

As for Elly, if the Reds are going to keep him at SS, then they need to make sure their OF is loaded. A big part of the benefit of him playing SS is getting his bat on top of a pack of killers at positions where you can traditionally find more offense. When the OFs aren't bringing much to the table, it negates that theoretical advantage. Because the Reds' SS might just be the best CF alive at this moment. A stacked OF is kind of the only reason to keep from finding out if that's true.

[CaiGuy]

Cruz is pretty mammoth to be playing SS. Makes sense to switch him.

As for Elly, if the Reds are going to keep him at SS, then they need to make sure their OF is loaded. A big part of the benefit of him playing SS is getting his bat on top of a pack of killers at positions where you can traditionally find more offense. When the OFs aren't bringing much to the table, it negates that theoretical advantage. Because the Reds' SS might just be the best CF alive at this moment. A stacked OF is kind of the only reason to keep from finding out if that's true.

The Reds are getting their best offense from SS, 2B, C, and CF. And they are getting next to zero hitting out of the corner positions.

If they could get some production from the corners, they could easily hide a glove in CF and at the bottom of the lineup. And go with a EDLC-McLain-RealCenterfielder elite defensive alignment up the middle. And maybe grab a glove-first caddy for Ty Steve.

[RedsFanInMS]

They should do this wil Elly.

Arroyo is too good Defensively not to play SS for the REDS.

Friedl isn't going to have a long career. He gets hurt too much and there's other factors. Friedl can move to another Outfield spot. McLain can play SS until Arroyo is ready to take over and India can stay at 2B. This opens up more DH opportunties for Stephenson and CES if India is at 2B, where he's better there than CES is at 1B, though CES didn't look that bad in his small sample size (he looked as good as Steer, which isn't saying much, and a heck of a lot better than Candelario, who needs to be jettisoned off of the team...addition by subtraction). India at 2B also opens up more DH time for Steer.

If we can get Santander for four years at $120M (I'd try for 3yrs/$90M or 2yrs/$65M, he may need to play some 1B and DH, too).

Reds aren't signing Santander

[sdwagers]

Robin Yount did it.

[Strikes Out Looking]

McLain should be the shortstop if he can ever get healthy enough to play, Elly can move to 3b. Arroyo is still 2 years away from the big leagues, they can deal with him in 2027.