Off center

Teams struggle to fill one of baseball's prestigious positions

The Oakland Athletics have a new center fielder, Chris Singleton, who may be the last person you'd expect to be signed by the high priest of on-base percentage, Oakland GM Billy Beane. Singleton posted an abysmal .296 on-base percentage last year for Baltimore, which showed its appreciation for such a performance by first giving Singleton's job to Gary Matthews Jr., a career .238 hitter, then declining to offer Singleton a contract. We'd like to say it was an unusually poor year for Mr. Singleton, but after nearly 2,000 major league at-bats his career on-base percentage is .313. The Athletics are his fifth organization in the past seven seasons.

After getting his fill of watching Terrence Long play the position poorly, Beane needed somebody to patrol center field. Even the Athletics place some value on defense. But Beane was unable to find a candidate with the trifecta of skills he was looking for: a good glove, a good on-base percentage and an affordable salary. He had to sacrifice somewhere, and it wasn't going to be payroll.

"It must have killed him to have to sign Singleton," one NL GM said. "I know [Beane] was saying a couple of years ago that he didn't like [Singleton] and now he has him. He's not their kind of player."

Beane learned firsthand what other GMs in the game have regrettably come to find out: center field, once the plum job in baseball -- hey, John Fogerty didn't write a song about first base to capture the spirit of his musical comeback -- is a down position in the big leagues.

"Like a lot of things, it goes in cycles, and we're in a down cycle," Beane said. "It'll come back."

Where have all the good center fielders gone?

"They're playing shortstop now," Beane said.

The fleet, rangy athlete is welcome at shortstop, where in the past he might have been moved to center field. (Bobby Murcer, for example).

Two years ago Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro scoured baseball to find a replacement for Kenny Lofton. The best he could come up with was Milton Bradley, who has hit .234 in 717 big league at-bats. While GM in Texas, Doug Melvin conducted a similar search -- and found nothing. The Mets haven't nailed the position since they traded Lenny Dykstra.

"You're looking for guys who fit the classic profile of a center fielder," Melvin said, "but you quickly realize that you have to look outside the profile. There are 30 teams, but there are a lot fewer classic center fielders."

Just how thin is the crop? Consider that only two-thirds of the teams in baseball last year had a center fielder who started 100 games at the position. How many of those players drove in 100 runs? Five (Lance Berkman, who has since been shifted to left field, Carlos Beltran, Bernie Williams and Vernon Wells). How many batted .300? Two (Williams and Jim Edmonds). How many led their team in RBIs? One (Beltran).

The picture isn't any better this spring. Only 13 players who started 100 games in center field last year are back at the position with their same team. What in the name of Hiram Colon Bocachica is going on? Experiments and prayers are being conducted all over camps in Arizona and Florida. Take a look at some of the clubs, grouped into categories, that have issues in center field.

THE ROOKIES: The Phillies are counting on Marlon Byrd, the Expos are giving Endy Chavez a shot, and the Devil Rays may push Rocco Baldelli (despite having only 50 games of experience above Class A ball).

THE UNPROVEN: The jury is still deliberating on Matthews of the Orioles, Aaron Rowand of the White Sox, Corey Patterson of the Cubs (whose .284 on-base percentage was Singleton-esque) and Alex Sanchez of the Brewers. Milwaukee coach Dave Nelson, who helped Lofton become the classic speedy leadoff center fielder in Cleveland, is tutoring Sanchez this spring. Dave Roberts isn't exactly a sure thing in Los Angeles. The 30-year-old journeyman did OK in his first real shot at playing everyday last year, but only 63 runs scored and fewer extra-base hits (24) than wet-noodle swinging Rey Ordonez won't exactly get you a parade in Pasadena.

THE EXPERIMENTS: The Astros think Craig Biggio, at 37, can easily make the switch from second base to center field. The Mets once thought the same thing about Juan Samuel. New York has its own finger-crossing move to sweat: it thinks Roger Cedeno can play center field, though Cedeno, 28, has failed several times to show he has the skills to play the position.

The Giants, an expected contender in the NL, think Marquis Grissom can be their everyday center fielder. Grissom turns 36 in April. Feel free to debate.

And while Brian Giles has played enough center field not to be considered an experiment, he seems to hopscotch outfield positions every month. The Pirates ought to leave Giles in one corner spot and save some wear and tear on him. Actually, they'd love to do just that, but they can't find a legitimate center fielder.

THE COMEBACKS: Colorado (Preston Wilson) and Florida (Juan Pierre) swapped center fielders coming off poor years. Oakland is relying on Singleton to hit enough to justify his glove. The Rangers thought Carl Everett, in the last year of a contract, might be motivated enough to get in the kind of shape it takes to cover the spacious center field at The Ballpark in Arlington. That remains to be seen, so Texas is glad it has Doug Glanville, another comeback wanna-be (.285 and .292 on-base percentages the past two years) in camp.

ALL OF THE ABOVE: What a battle going on in Tigers camp. Detroit has four contenders for the job: Bocachica, who turns 27 next month and has 71 career hits and a .228 batting average; Gene Kingsale, 26, the most accomplished of the bunch with 109 hits and a .264 average; George Lombard, who has a hard time staying healthy, which might explain why at age 27 he has only 66 big league hits and a .226 average, and Andres Torres, a 27-year-old rookie who has played in only 19 big league games. What, Mickey Stanley wasn't available?

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci covers the baseball beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.

 

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