Marlins moving Chris Coghlan from left field to third base - MLB

Chris Coghlan has played left field in all but one of his 219 career games, but according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com “the Marlins plan on converting Coghlan from left field to third base” in 2011.

It presumably won’t take much to convert him, because Coghlan was actually a full-time infielder in the minors before switching to left field when he joined the Marlins in 2009. In fact, he’d never started a professional game in the outfield prior to doing so for the Marlins.

Coghlan was primarily a second baseman in the minors, but also saw action at third base 42 times in parts of four minor-league seasons. By moving him to the infield the Marlins clear room for Logan Morrison, Cameron Maybin, and Mike Stanton to patrol the outfield full time.

Before he can change positions again Coghlan has to get healthy first, as he missed the final six weeks of the season following knee surgery. Frisaro reports that Coghlan has only been cleared to do light jogging at this point, but seems confident that he’ll be ready for spring training despite his recovery time being “longer than initially expected because of the severity of the tear.”

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles signed outfielder Aaron Hicks less than 24 hours after Cedric Mullins went down with a strained right groin.

Mullins went on the 10-day injured list, but the Orioles are hoping Hicks can help defensively in the spacious outfield at Camden Yards. Hicks was released last week by the New York Yankees with more than 2 1/2 seasons left on his contract.

“We had noticed that he was a free agent even before the injury,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said. “When the injury occurred and it became pretty clear this was going to be an IL, it seemed like a good fit even more so at that time.”

The Orioles are responsible for paying Hicks just $483,871, a prorated share of the $720,000 minimum salary. The Yankees owe him the rest of his $10.5 million salary this year, plus $9.5 million in each of the next two seasons and a $1 million buyout of a 2026 team option.

The 33-year-old Hicks hit just .188 in 28 games for the Yankees this year.

“We have stuff that we look at from a scouting and evaluation perspective,” Elias said. “It’s very different from just looking at the back of a baseball card, and we hope that we get a bounceback from anyone we bring here.”

Hicks batted .216 last season.

“Hopefully that’s a good thing for him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the Baltimore deal. “A lot of time here and a lot of good things happened for him here. I know the last couple of years have been a struggle. But hopefully it’s a good opportunity for him and certainly wish him well. Not too well being in our division and a team we’re chasing, but hopefully it’s a really good fit for him.”

Mullins left a loss to Cleveland after he pulled up while running out an infield grounder. Outfielder Colton Cowser – the fifth pick in the draft two years ago – is hitting .331 at Triple-A Norfolk, but he went on the IL in the past couple weeks.

“Certainly he was building a case towards promotion consideration prior to his injury and prior to Cedric’s injury,” Elias said. “We’ll just see where we’re at.”

Hicks was active for the game but not in the starting lineup. Austin Hays, normally Baltimore’s left field, was in Mullins’ usual spot in center.

When the wall in left at Camden Yards was pushed significantly back before last season, it made left field a bigger challenge defensively.

“In this park … you really need two center fielders,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Aaron’s got a lot of center-field experience. Played left field here before also. Brings the defensive aspect and then the switch-hitting.”