Change is Afoot at First
The Detroit Tigers announced that they are swapping corner infield positions, moving Miguel Cabrera to first base and Carlos Guillen to third.
The move makes tremendous sense. Cabrera has been woeful this season at third. He has five errors in 14 app at the position. He is second to last in the major leagues in fielding percentage (.900) and third from bottom in zone rating (.683).
Given Cabrera’s combination of body-type and conditioning, his eventual destination will be first, and probably designated hitter toward the end of his deal with the Tigers.
Guillen was a shortstop until last season. He played third regularly two separate times with the Mariners (2000, 2003). Guillen is the better defensive player. The move makes sense.
The only question, as Rob Neyer has asked, is why was this not ironed out in Spring Training? How has this situation altered in three weeks?
Another team that may be looking for a first base switch is the Yankees. Jason Giambi is below average, though not terrible with the glove. But, his impotent bat has thus far made his starting spot untenable.
His OPS (.660) is far below his steroid-fueled career average (.945) and even his injury addled ’07 number (.789). He has just one home run against pitchers who are not Mike Timlin.
The Yankees would like to get some value from him–since they cleverly back-loaded his deal to pay him $23,428,571 this season, but even with the extraordinary cost, his roster spot may be more valuable than his presence on the team.
Girardi’s question should not be if he is replaced, but who? The obvious candidate should be Jeter.
It is wrenching, I know, for New York to consider Capt. Jetes at any position but shortstop. But, Jeter has to move at some point. He will turn 34 in June. Despite what gold glove voters say, the numbers show consistently that Jeter is just not that good in the field. His third from bottom rating in MLB for range factor (3.71) and zone rating (.762) are the norm.
The Yankees have a viable shortstop replacement at hand with Alberto Gonzalez. The understudy, 25, put up a solid (.911 OPS) numbers with the bat. He is also far superior defensively, 5.24 RF and .871 ZR in the Major Leagues.
They would be a better team moving Jeter to first and playing Gonzalez. The one problem would be Jeter’s ego. But, of course a gamer like Derek Jeter would never place his own well-being before the team?
can you still put mariah carey level tail as a 1st basemen? that’s the real question.
That’s a fair point. First is definitely a less sexy position. I don’t think the ladies care much about zone rating, at least on the field.