On Tuesday night, Pirates left fielder Starling Marte won his second Gold Glove Award. It was a well-deserved piece of hardware for an elite-level defender.
As it turns out, that Gold Glove Award might be Marte's last in left field -- not because he's in decline, but because he could be moving to center as part of a total realignment of the Pirates outfield.
Here are the details, courtesy of Buster Olney:
Among changes the Pirates are considering: Polanco in left field, Marte in CF, McCutchen in RF
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 10, 2016
Basically, the Pirates would be sliding everyone to the right: Marte to center, Andrew McCutchen to right, and Gregory Polanco to left -- okay, so not technically to the right, unless you imagine left field is to the right of right field and ... never mind.
Such a change would make sense, given Marte is the best outfield defender on the team. You can assess that using the eye test or with your choice of the much-maligned public defensive metrics, but it's true either way. Baseball-Reference's Defensive Runs Saved, for instance, has Marte as a 50-run defender over the last three seasons; McCutchen, conversely, checks in at negative-47 runs -- yes, negative.
You don't have to believe the gap is that severe to believe Marte is the better defender -- or to think this is a switch worth considering. We'll see if the Pirates follow through on it.
