Why don't the Reds try Hamilton at second?

[flash]

I know he is a rookie, but he came up playing short. He would seem to be the best option.

Move Hamil;ton to second, Bruce to first. Bring up Perez and Bourgrois. These guys at least can give you some offense. Get Lutz and Negron out of there.

[redsfanman]

Not going to happen.  A big driver of his value is his exceptional fielding in CF.  He has a chance of winning the Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove, and they won't want to disrupt that.

[schellis]

There is a reason you don't see to many players like Zobrist in the majors. It isn't easy to just bounce from position to position. Any runs that those two quad A types would provide would be given back and then some by players playing out of position. Hamilton is also a elite fielder in CF, it would be a shame to move him away from the position that utilizes his talents.

[vtreds22]

Hamilton hasn't played 2B since he was in rookie ball (2010). Moving him there would make the Reds weaker defensively at both 2B and CF. That's why you don't try Hamilton at 2B.

It's the same reason why Bruce shouldn't be playing 1B. Let guys play the positions they've been playing for years instead of trying to teach them a new position in the middle of a playoff race...

[devils]

Don't try to fix something that's not broken...cf is where billy should be!1

[flash]

Oh and Negron is the answer? Give me a break Sot and Lutz at first. it is like the three stooges. Perez and Bourgeois may only be quad a, but they are not double a

[redsfanman]

I'm not nearly as opposed to using Bruce occasionally at 1b as I am to moving Billy Hamilton.  Although Bruce is, without question, the team's best defensive RF, I think CF Schumaker and Heisey can adequately replace Bruce in RF defensively, without any huge dropoff.  Worse arms, but comparable range.  Schumaker and Heisey just aren't even the same category defensively as Hamilton in CF.  Hamilton's great speed also allows him to cover a bunch of LF and RF, helping him to offset problems caused by a poor defender like Ludwick (or hypothetically Dunn, Gomes, Alfonso Soriano, Willingham, Lutz, Winker, Todd Frazier [LF], or some other guy the Reds might acquire).  As a result I think keeping Hamilton in the OF is more important than it is for Bruce.

If Bruce learns to play a competent 1b it really opens the Reds' options going forward, with the Reds' relative abundance of outfield prospects, and the general simplicity of acquiring corner outfielders.  Getting Bruce's bat in the lineup is, in my opinion, the priority, more than keeping him in RF.  Keeping Hamilton in CF should be another top priority, as should be keeping Frazier at 3b.

[schellis]

What the Reds need to do is just acquire a corner OF/1B type for the bench and leave players where they belong. YOu don't move good defenders down the defensive spectrum and replace them with inferior options. Trade for a John Mayberry and be done with it. He isn't elite by any means but he'll do better then a Lutz or Soto, and would likely be a better fielder then the I've played this position five games or less since I was in high school crowd.

[redsfanman]

I'd like to clarify that, regarding Bruce, I'm talking about how I think the Reds manager should best deploy the players currently available to him under current circumstances (1 or 2 CFs on the bench [depending on whether Schumaker plays 2b... and assuming he's activated from the concussion DL tonight...], no 1b, no 2b, no backup 1b, no backup 3b).

Obviously adding a player like Zobrist (or a 1b/OF) would be ideal, but that's just dealing with front office related hypothetical, rather than a plan for immediate deployment of players.  But it seems like Price needs to plan long term around what he has, rather than on the expectation of the front office to acquire players to fill his team's needs.

[schellis]

If we are going with what is currently on the roster I play Lutz or Soto and hope for the best. It would be different if the player being ran out to RF or 3B was a offensive upgrade over Lutz or Soto but I'm just not seeing it. I don't really havea issue with Pena at 1B though on days when he isn't catching though I prefer to have a catcher on the bench instead of at injury risk at 1B.

I think the better option is to just make a minor deal for a proven bench 1B/LF and be done with it though and it would have been a move that I'd have made when Votto first hit the DL.

[Dustrated]

The guy is going to win a gold glove in center this year.  He will save us more runs there than anywhere else.