marlinsmaniac

01/26/2005 2:15 PM ET Around the Horn: Outfielders Gonzalez, Green solid at corners, but who will play CF? By Steve Gilbert / MLB.com Luis Gonzalez will be playing with a pain-free elbow for the first time since early in 2003. (AP) The following is the fourth in a series of weekly stories on MLB.com examining each Major League club, position-by-position. Each Wednesday until Spring Training camps open, we'll preview a different position. Today: Outfield. PHOENIX -- Luis Gonzalez knows it's going to feel strange when he jogs out to left field on Opening Day. Not because he missed the final two months of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but rather because of what he will see when he turns to his left -- center fielder Steve Finley won't be there. Finley, who was the captain of the Arizona outfield from 1999 until being dealt at last year's trading deadline, signed a two-year deal with the Angels during the Winter Meetings. "He kind of schooled me every day out there in how to play," said Gonzalez, who also teamed with Finley in Houston. "That's going to be the most difficult adjustment for me because I've played next to the guy for 11 of out of my 14 years." The Diamondbacks started out the offseason wondering who would replace Finley and free agent right fielder Danny Bautista. Half of that equation was answered when the club managed to swing a trade for slugger Shawn Green. Now, center field stands as the lone question mark on a team that has made a remarkable transformation from the squad that finished 51-111 last year. The Diamondbacks have been pursuing various angles to fill the void in center with the possibility of trading for Oakland's Eric Byrnes topping the list of rumors. Arizona could also go the free agent route and sign Jeromy Burnitz, not a natural center fielder, but someone who has played the position. Or the D-Backs could simply give the job to 24-year-old Luis Terrero, who has tons of talent, but showed during a 62-game audition last year that he has to work on harnessing that ability. "I don't know if it's going to be Terrero or someone else," Gonzalez said. "If it's Terrero, he's key out there. This guy, he's got to help the corner guys, if the pitcher is going to pitch away or whatever he could see that, so he's got to tell us." Playing Terrero in center seemed to make more sense when it looked like 2005 would be a rebuilding year for the D-Backs. But with the club hoping instead to reload by signing veterans like Troy Glaus, Russ Ortiz, Royce Clayton and Craig Counsell, as well as trading for Green, the front office seems to be leaning toward having an established player in center. "The better your team gets and the more you think you're putting yourselves in a position to compete within your division, now all of a sudden you're looking at, 'Can we get better at that position?'" Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "Can we get another veteran guy there that we feel like is going to give us a little more stability and a little bit more 'you know what you're going to get'?" However the Diamondbacks answer the center field question, they do feel good about what they have in the corners. Gonzalez will be playing with a pain-free elbow for the first time since early in the 2003 season, and Green is coming off a second half in which he hit .281 with 18 homers for the Dodgers. Gonzalez and Green will hit three and four in the lineup, with Green giving Gonzalez the protection that Richie Sexson was supposed to last year. The pair, combined with Glaus, should give Arizona a formidable middle of the lineup. When one of the outfielders needs a day off, look for Quinton McCracken or Robby Hammock to fill the void. McCracken is a veteran switch-hitter who runs well and can play all three outfield positions. Hammock, meanwhile, will be used as a jack-of-all-trades, playing both outfield corners as well as third base. The 27-year-old will also be the club's third catcher. Steve Gilbert is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Maybe we could ship encarnacion over there for Vazquez maybe? Or we could just ask for Bill Murphy back. As you can see i'm really sold on the idea of trading enc. Any ideas?

I know. I just felt like robbing the cubs.

With the losses of Sosa and Alou maybe they're in need of another outfielder. It's just an idea. I really want to trade encarnacion. I know he's gonna start whining whenever he gets benched for a few games.

No thanks. His era is pretty high. And he has a career losing record.

Man I miss Len. :tissue

Pedro might still be dominant if he's healthy.? Don't even mention glavine being a quality pitcher anymore, and don't bring up his numbers cause his first half was ridiculous.? There pitching will be terrible this year......can you even name 2 of their relievers 670774[/snapback] I don't thinking the Mets' pitching will be bad at all, and should compete with our rotation. Pedro is still an elite arm, Glavine is still very good, Benson and Zambrano pitched pretty well for the Mets last year, and Trachsel is a great #5. We should be more worried about Leiter getting past 5 innings and Valdez's consistency. Mets relievers: Looper, Mike DeJean, Bartolome Fortunado (went to Mets in Zambrano/Kazmir trade), Orber Moreno, Scott Strickland is supposed to be healthy again, Felix Heredia, and some Asian guy they just picked up. 672054[/snapback] First off, Welcome to the boards. I think Leiter and valdez are gonna do just fine. Leiter said he tried too hard to throw strikes last year because he didn't trust his defense, our strongest asset. Valdez won 14 games last year. And he's a #5 starter. That's pretty darn good.

There you go. It's good to see more fans coming out to the ballpark. It shows the FO and the state that we love the marlins and really need that stadium.

Come on, lets git'r done.

Thanks. Damn, I can't wait for this all to get settled. I pray to god we end up getting the stadium. If we don't I'll still follow the marlins all I can, but I'll probably be mainly a devil rays fan.

I think he needs to work with Al leiter and Mark Wiley to learn a little more about pitching. He also needs to master his change and learn a new pitch(Screwball, cutter, split-finger). When he learns to be a little more consistent in getting hitters out, he will be an astonishing pitcher. So I think he should stick to starting.

I'm looking to buy a 41-game plan. I'm gonna sit right behing home on the third base side.

I think the pie in the face is a great tradition. I hope alot of pies are rubbed in Marlin's player's faces this year. That means alot of really spectacular things happened. :thumbup

Bigger?!?! How much bigger can they get? Those things were huge.

Well, atleast he's going to a team that's a given to make the playoffs. :blink:

Wow!! That was amazing. Awesome video. We have an amazing defense. I can't wait for this season to start. I think that with a healthy year from beckett and burnett and the offense that delgado brings we are set to make a serious playoff push. Watch out Braves, Here come the Fighting Fish!!!!

I think after this year conine retires and Hermida replaces him. Then we use eric reed off the bench to get him ready to take over in center. Although i would love to sign JP longterm.

Welcome!!!!!

I voted that they would make it to the world series then lose. I think it's better to be a little pessimistic.

Even if we lose Aj, which I don't think is too likely, we have Bazardo and Olsen in the minors that will be ready to take over by '06.

Berardino is an ass. He writes negative articles about the marlins just for fun. I don't think Lee was gonna be the player who turns things around for the marlins. I would take Delgado's offense over Lee's glove any day of the week. Besides, everybody acts like delgado plays terrible defense. He's no Derreck Lee, but he can hold his own with the glove too. As for pudge, the only thing I miss about him is his presence behind the plate. He was a good game caller and threw out a majority of the baserunners that tried to steal off him. His offense, on the other hand, was nothing out of this world. I think that Loduca can easily surpass Pudge's '03 numbers.

I think Pierre is taking too big a lead. He should stay back and rely more on timing like he did in '03. Pitchers are now very much aware of his speed, so they try to keep him close to the bag. I also think he should just stay at first more to make the pitcher nervous. When a pitcher is nervous he makes alot of mistakes. And when a pitcher makes a mistake over the plate we have a lineup that knows what to do in the situation. :thumbup

It'll probably be wayne and riedling. How are we gonna use Todd Jones? as a set up i assume along with alfonseca 671933[/snapback] I thought that too. But then what would happen to spooney. I've always understood it would be spooney in the 7th Pulpo in the 8th and Mota in the 9th.

It'll probably be wayne and riedling. How are we gonna use Todd Jones?

Wow. that's hot

Thanks pudge.