45.6 Checking the Locks: Left Field

[crobillard]

This is a series where I will evaluate the options in each position leading into Spring Training. This is the sixth of eleven parts. I will be taking a look into the left field position in this post.

Sure fire locks: Jose Salas
Near lock: Bill Morley
Trying to get in the door: Lorenzo Leon, Antonio Gonzales

Quickly growing into a top bat on the team, Jose Salas turned in a masterful performance last year of .288/.370/.509 for a 4.2 WAR. With 42 doubles, 13 triples and 26 homeruns, he collected his fourth triple double in four seasons. More importantly he bounced back from an abysmal 2043 in which he batted on .256. I came so close to dealing him prior to the season last year and I'm glad I didn't. This guy is really good and he continues to prove it. Three out of four seasons around 4 WAR is awesome. Hi only major issue is his defense which reminds me of Manny Ramirez on the Red Sox. Circuitous routes to the ball, missing easy plays. 73 starts with a -4.7 ZR and five errors. Not terrible I guess and he has an alright arm too. Salas is fine in the field as long as he's not getting hit at often and if you can put a great defense around him, you can hide him in the field and not worry about it.

Leon and Gonzales are both going to have to show why they deserve spots on the roster and I wouldn't be surprised if the team makes a trade in this area because really the best case scenario is to move Salas to DH, but it's not clear how the team will do that just yet. One option is to have Morley or Shi play in left and kick Salas to DH in Masaki Soto's old territory, but it was pretty clear with the Jerry Bell acquisition last season that Edmonton would prefer to have someone with a stronger bat out there. Now, it's questionable whether Bell was that stronger bat, but clearly Edmonton didn't think Morley had it. A good spring could change some minds though. Morley should make the team regardless. His defense is really good and he's a strong backup off the bench. Rated 7/7/3/4/6 as a switch hitter with some speed and 10/11/9 defensive ratings, Morley is solid at a lot of things and this isn't even mentioning his leadership qualities. He had 104 PAs last season with 27 hits too, so he can do a little bit at the plate. Maybe it's just enough.

Gonzales is more of the same and is probably the more durable corner outfield version of Morley with 5/7/6/5/4 ratings. Leon is more interesting at the plate, but he's also more of a pure DH. 7/9/8/5/7 ratings at the plate against righties might allow him some opportunities at the plate especially if he puts on a show during Spring Training. A 5 rating in left field makes him unplayable there though.