I like the big Reds-Indians-Diamondbacks trade from the Reds’ perspective. That lineup is gonna be stacked now and they have to be everyone’s favorite in the NL Central.
One of the points of concern, however, is what the Reds would do with their outfield defense. The team doesn’t have a natural center fielder now and Choo has actually turned into a below average right fielder in the past couple of years. How is he gonna handle center field?
ESPN’s Jim Bowden, however, says it’s not a question of how Choo will handle center. It’s a matter of how Jay Bruce will:
Talked to two scouts who scouted Choo last year and both opined that Bruce would end up in CF and Choo in RF after Dusty evaluates them
— JIM BOWDEN (@JimBowdenESPNxm) December 12, 2012
Bruce is younger and has actually played more center field in his career than Choo has. Thirty five games there to Choo’s ten, although all 35 of those came way back in 2008. In the minors Bruce spent the majority of his time in center field — 205 of his 325 career minor league games. Choo spent 151 of his 600+ minor league games in center.
Not saying Bruce will look great out there, but he may be the better option.
