February 01, 2003
Giles to Center?
Brian Giles has told the Pirates that he would be willing to move to center field to help solve their outfield problems. Of course that would have them looking for a left-fielder who can hit, which should be easier than a centerfielder who can hit. However, as Giles points out:
"If we're going to go out and get somebody who can help us out and make us a better team, I'll move to center," Giles said. "Like I said, center field is my most comfortable position and left field is probably my least comfortable."
Especially in PNC Park, where a huge gap in left center field gives Giles more ground to cover in left than center.
"Left field is bigger here than center field," Giles said. "It might be better for me to move to center."
So you just can't get a lumbering slugger to play left here. You'll still need someone fast who can catch the ball, which are traits you usually look for in a CF. So this move doesn't really solve that much.
Pirate CF ranked 24th in the majors in OPS last year at .675. However, that was better than the Giants (.654) who made it to the World Series. The difference, of course, is that the Pirates are also weak at 1b, 2b, 3b, ss and rf. They have a great player in Giles, but they are going to have to find a number of decent players to put around him, or it won't matter what position on the field he's playing.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:48 AM
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Baseball
