Padres Editorial: Questions Remain In The Padres Infield

With all the moves that A.J. Preller has made this off-season, they’ve come with questions. How many outfielders does one need? How many prospects can you shuttle out in one off-season? Will James Shields be worth the money there? Can Wil Myers play center in a big ballpark? Is Justin Upton just a one year and done with the Padres?

The one question I’m going to really focus on here is the Padres infield.

Who’s on first? Well right now it’s Yonder Alonso, but he can’t really stay healthy. Carlos Quentin brought a glove and is going to try his hand there this spring. There’s Will Middlebrooks, Alex Dickerson too. Maybe even Myers moves there if Cameron Maybin can play well enough. Its going to be a competition all spring long. It may be who’s healthy wins.

What’s on second? Well Jedd Gyorko is there. He got a nice contract after a nice rookie year, but last year, injuries and ineffectiveness limited him. To me, watching him, I don’t think second base is going to be his position in a few years. I think he will outgrow it and move to third. Remember, he was a third baseman in the minors, but moved to second because of Chase Headley.

I don’t know who will be at third. It’s going to probably be either Middlebrooks or Yangervis Solarte. Middlebrooks has the pop, but he really struggled last year. The Padres bought low on him, thinking he could be a change of pace power guy. Solarte came out of nowhere last year and was steady but does he have enough pop?

At short, either Clint Barmes or Alexi Amarista. Amarista has speed, but what about his glove? Barmes has the glove, and the Padres may benefit from it, but his bat does leave something to be desired.

This is my last post for the site. Like Billy, today is my last day. I’d like to thank the staff for being fantastic and most of all you the reader. This should be an exciting year for the Padres and Friars will have it all covered.

Next: One For The Road

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