38.1. Defense Musical Chairs

[agrudez]

After realizing just how bad Rutledge was at 1B last year (-14.9 ZR), the offseason started off with a bit of a sour note in Huntsville. Rumors abounded of perennial 45+ HR slugger, David Hall being on the trading block - with the thought process being the expedited movement of Rutledge to DH. Now with the calendar turning to April and Hall still on the team; however, it is decision time. There simply is no way that either player is going to be benched - their offense is too important - so the decision point then becomes which one is designated as the team's defensive butcher (the last time Hall played OF the year before last, he had a -10 ZR pace in LF). At the center of this decision is Adrian Young - whom is the team's best option at either RF or 1B both offensively and defensively. So, to distill the decision even more, the question becomes what position will Young play at. The pros and cons of both routes:

Option #1: Rutledge at 1B, Hall at DH, Young at RF
1) Young and Torres make a formidable defensive combo in the OF with 8 and 9 range respectively. We already have a bit of a defensive liability manning LF in Reyes, so having Young in RF lets Torres shade a bit towards LF to help him.
2) I'm still skeptical of the importance of 1B defense. I mean... did Rutledge *really* cost me 15 runs compared to an average 1B? A grounder through the 1B-2B gap with the 1B on the bag holding a runner is going to be a hit even if you have 13 range in your 1B.
3) I don't play infield shifts, so the 1B is never having to cover more field than normal.
4) Even though range is king, the idea of having an *average* arm of 5 in the OF makes me a bit queasy. I don't think ZR is capturing things like guys going 1st to 3rd with regularity due to noodle arms in the OF.

Option #2: Young at 1B, Rutledge at DH, Hall at RF
1) Young will probably win a gold glove at 1B. 9 range, 8 error, he's basically a SS.
2) Couple Young being a stud at 1B with the acquisition of Morales and suddenly my infield defense is looking very stout. With this setup, across my starters I would *average* 8 range. Also, the two weaker range guys (6 at 3B and 7 at 2B) would be interspersed between my more range-y guys at 1B and SS so we wouldn't have a weakness based on the batter's pull side.
3) Having a MOV > all philosophy for the pitching staff naturally leads me to collecting a lot of high GB rate guys and sinkerballers. With this in mind, sacrificing OF defense to get an elite infield defense seems logical.
4) While he can't be on both sides of the field at the same time, having a stud defensive CF like Torres does make me feel at least a little better about having sieves in the corner. Alternatively, I don't get the same warm fuzzy from my 2B, defensively, covering for my 1B.

So, after mulling this over for real life weeks now, I think I've finally decided to go with option #2. The prospect of Young being a second SS at 1B is really intriguing. I'm excited to see if a guy like Nicto can capitalize on the setup with an ERA < FIP (for once). I'll certainly be monitoring the situation, though. If we start giving up an absurd amount of doubles or triples, as an example, I might get gun shy about the setup.