Moving Reynolds to Second
The Republic’s Nick Piecoro, in a good article downplaying the Teixeira rumors and analyzing the Rauch acquisition, reminds us of a possible long-term solution to the problem of manning the infield:
One option would be moving third baseman Mark Reynolds to second base. Reynolds was a shortstop in college at Virginia and rose through the minor leagues playing second base and drawing Jeff Kent comparisons.
But that would leave the team on the hunt for a third baseman - the club doesn’t appear to consider Chad Tracy a strong enough defender at the position - so either way they would need another infielder.
I’ve always been a bit torn when in it comes to this option — an infield of Jackson (1B), Reynolds (2B), Drew (SS), and Tracy (3B) is pretty appealing, at least when it comes to offensive potential, though it’s not that different when you consider that Tracy is really replacing Hudson in the lineup. Hudson is a switch-hitter, but his left-right splits are pretty similar to Tracy’s (basically, the both prefer RHPs). Tracy has more power, but probably not a whole lot more. Hudson, at least in his time with Arizona, is a more reliable on-base guy.
The new defense would be the biggest question. I have to think that Brandon Webb loves having Orlando Hudson behind him. Will he mind Reynolds taking his place, and putting Tracy, who should be a first baseman and has had a series of injuries, at third? This could be an important consideration in extension talks between Webb and Josh Byrnes.
The free agent class, at least for infielders, is pretty awful. I think I’m becoming increasingly convinced of the need to re-sign Hudson, as unlikely as that may be. But the spectre of Eric Byrnes’ contract is hautning — do we really want another of those?
This entry was posted
on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 10:55 am and is filed under Opinions & Analysis.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
THE AUTHOR
RECENT ARTICLES BY DIVISION RIVALS
ARCHIVE
SPONSORS
Online Seats
Arizona Diamondbacks Tickets Phoenix Suns Tickets
Ticket Specialists
Arizona Diamondbacks Tickets Sun Devils Tickets
Tickets4U
Cincinnati Reds Tickets Baseball Tickets Cincinnati Bengals Tickets
Coast to Coast Tickets
Cincinnati Reds Tickets Cincinnati Bengals Tickets Concert Tickets Information Broadway Theater Tickets Ohio State Football Tickets
Great Seats
Cincinnati Reds Tickets Cincinatti Bengals Tickets Ohio State Football Tickets Final Four Ticket Broker Cincinnati Ticket Broker
One Response to “Moving Reynolds to Second”
July 25th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Wow…I can’t imagine having Reynolds at second. He simply does not have the footwork and agility to play a high enough caliber enough of defense at this level. Although it would certainly help his throwing error stats :-).
One option I’ve often thought of would be to bring Justin Upton into the infield to play third. He’s obviously played short in the past, and would seem a fairly easy transition to play the corner. So, what about Reynolds then? I say trading him is the best option. Package him, Montero, and a decent minor leaguer and get a big hitting outfielder to play right.
Leave a comment