Despite the defensive dominance that helped lead to Christian Yelich becoming a Gold Glove winning left fielder, there are still rumblings about him potentially moving over to first base. Here is why he shouldn't.
Late Tuesday evening, the MLB announced the winners of the Gold Glove awards for both the National and American League. This year, the Marlins had three Gold Glove finalists -- left fielder Christian Yelich, right fielder Giancarlo Stanton and shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria. Among that trio, Yelich was the lone Marlin to win the award. Yelich became the first Marlins outfielder to win the award, and the first player on the team's franchise since Mark Buehrle took the Gold Glove as one of the NL's top pitchers in 2012.
Despite Yelich's continued excellent outfield performance, there has always been rumblings about him potentially moving over to first base to replace the disappointing Garrett Jones. While that tentative discussion is mainly based on Miami being able to find an offensive weapon in left field easier than at 1st base, that potential change might not be the best option for the future of the organization.
The main reasoning behind that change would be to improve the offensive output from the first base position. Since Gaby Sanchez's solid output during the 2011 season, Garrett Jones has been the lone Marlins first baseman to not have a negative WAR. That depressing predicament means that Jones' mediocre .246/.309/..411 split-line would be the best offensive output from that position since Sanchez.
With that mediocrity in mind, moving Yelich to first base might still pay negative dividends for the Marlins. The biggest reasoning behind that rests with his ability as a defensive outfielder. While his recent Gold Glove victory does a lot to back that statement, Yelich finished second in the league behind Kansas City's Alex Gordon with an extremely solid 12.8 UZR. By looking at standard fielding statistics, the 22-year-old stud had an excellent .996 fielding percentage, that included only one fielding error during the entire 2014 season.
Even though Yelich is definitely not a picture-perfect all-around defender, as he does possess a below-average arm, it's nearly impossible to find another outfielder that can be as effective. While Yelich transitioning over to first base with somebody taking his spot in the outfield will probably have a positive impact, the defensive decline could be more impactful than any offensive gain.
So if Yelich's transition over the first base is out of the question, then what would the Marlins have to do to improve their first base position? Of course the most cost-effective way that they can improve would be through the trade market. In the short time since the off-season started, there was already a deal centered around the first base position, as Toronto dealt Adam Lind to Milwaukee in exchange for starting pitcher Marco Estrada.
Prior to the deal, Milwaukee was definitely in a similar position as Miami, as their first base position had a combined -5.4 WAR since the start of the 2013 season. By simply trading a back-of-the-rotation starter to Toronto, Milwaukee acquired a player that should help solidify their weakest position.
Transitioning back to the Marlins, they can definitely copy what Milwaukee did, considering the bevy of starting pitchers that they currently possess. Even with the absence of Jose Fernandez for the first few months of the season, Miami has a surplus of talented starting pitching, with Anthony DeSclafani and Andrew Heaney potentially solidifying themselves into the Marlins rotation during the 2015 season. Those additions would make the likes of Tom Koehler and Brad Hand available, which actually could lead towards a pretty valuable first baseman.
If the Marlins don't decide to look through the trade market, there are a handful of first baseman that are available through free agency. The likes of Adam LaRoche, Mark Reynolds, Michael Cuddyer and Mike Morse sit as potential options that the Marlins can look at. Among that quartet, Adam LaRoche and World Series champion Michael Morse stand out as the better players that could fit into the Marlins' starting lineup.
For LaRoche, he was probably one of the more well-rounded infielders during the prior season. In 2014, he finished with an impressive .259/.362/.455 split-line which represents his ability to be a power hitter while consistently getting on base.
As for Morse, he was on the same level of consistency as LaRoche but there are reportedly concerns about his defensive abilities and health. While those issues are concerning, Morse might become more affordable for Miami if teams like the Mets become disinterested.
At the end of the day, Gold Glove winner Christian Yelich should remain in his position as one of the best left fielders in the entire league. Even though there's currently a huge hole at first base, there are a variety of ways that the team could fix it.