One of the best parts of spring training for GMs and managers is when your team has legitimate competition for starting jobs. This puts the players in a position to use their spring training performances to help determine who wins. There are several scenarios in both leagues that fit this criterion, but here are my favorite spring training camp competitions that I’ll be monitoring during my spring training visits in the weeks to come:
1. Right field, Los Angeles Dodgers: Yasiel Puig vs. Andre Ethier.
Puig burst onto the scene by hitting .319/.391/.534 with 19 home runs in just 382 at-bats in 2013, and he was an All-Star the next season, finishing in the top 20 in NL MVP voting. However, the past two years he regressed significantly on and off the field, which eventually led to his being optioned to the minors in August. He worked hard last year trying to stay out of trouble, become a better teammate and attempting to get his hitting mechanics back to where they were during his rookie year. This is a crucial season for Puig: Either he regains his rookie form and breaks out, or he could find himself dealt by the July trade deadline.
Ethier will give him competition this spring training. Ethier, 34, is in the final guaranteed year of a five-year, $85 million contract after missing most of last season due to injury. He’s still capable of hitting .285 with 15 home runs and is real threat to Puig, either for the everyday job or to force some type of platoon of job-share.
Who wins? Yasiel Puig. He has too much talent not to make the necessary adjustments to get back the star power he flashed back in 2013. This could be his final chance with the Dodgers, but I think he’ll take advantage of it on and off the field.
2. Right field, New York Yankees: Aaron Hicks vs. Aaron Judge.
The Yankees have made it clear that both Hicks and Judge will compete this spring for their everyday job in right. This might seem like a small surprise, because Judge has gotten plenty of hype. He was the Yankees’ first-round pick in the 2013 amateur draft and was the 32nd pick taken overall that year. The 6-foot-7, 276-pound power hitter has put up impressive minor league numbers, including a .373 OBP with 56 home runs over three seasons. However, he did not farewell in his first cup of coffee in the big leagues last year when he hit just .179 in 95 plate appearances and looked like he had huge holes to plug.
This is where Hicks comes in. He was the Twins’ first-round pick in the 2008 amateur draft and the 14th player taken overall. He was acquired by GM Brian Cashman in November 2015 in a deal for catcher John Ryan Murphy. He has tremendous above-average tools: running, fielding, throwing and power. However, he’s yet to prove he has the most important one -- the “hit” tool. In his first 1289 plate appearances at the major league level he has slashed just .223/.299/.346 and did even worse last year with the Yankees in his 361 plate appearances. However, the Yankees believe that as he reaches the prime age of 27, his hit tool will kick in this year.
Who wins? Aaron Hicks. Hicks is the more athletic and better defensive player, while Judge could use some additional seasoning at Triple-A to address those concerns about his swing, at least to the start the season.
3. Third base, Boston Red Sox: Pablo Sandoval vs. Brock Holt vs. Josh Rutledge.
Sandoval, the Red Sox’s $95 million man, lost this competition last year to Travis Shaw and a month later had season-ending shoulder surgery. He’s finally healthy, has lost a lot of weight and now is ready to win his old job back. However, he’ll have competition as former All-Star Brock Holt brings better defense, more speed and can provide a similar OBP. He’s also more adept at playing small ball than Sandoval. Manager John Farrell has also said that Josh Rutledge will also compete for the job, but he profiles much better as a utility player than a starting third baseman.
Who wins? Pablo Sandoval. I can give you 95 million reasons on why Sandoval should win the position, as well as tell you there is no way the Sox will ever be able to trade him if he doesn’t become an everyday player again. It also helps that Holt is too valuable playing multiple positions and will play a much more vital role filling in all over the diamond than if he was their regular third baseman.
4. Third base, St. Louis Cardinals: Jhonny Peralta vs. Jedd Gyorko.
Gyorko is coming off the best year of his career, slashing .243/.306/.495 with a career-high 30 home runs and a 2.9 WAR. Third base is probably his best position and with the Cardinals in need of power, that will be a key advantage. On the other hand, Peralta lost the shortstop job to Aledmys Diaz last year and was shifted to play third for that reason. He doesn’t have a lot of range but makes the routine plays and when they matter most. At 34 years old Peralta appears to be in decline, but he still has the ability to hit .260 with 12-15 home runs.
Who wins? Jedd Gyorko. He will win the job initially, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up sharing the position by June.
5. Left field, Los Angeles Dodgers: Andrew Toles vs. Trayce Thompson vs. Scott Van Slyke vs. Cody Bellinger.
The competition goes more than four deep, because the loser of the Dodgers’ right-field competition will certainly become a factor for the left-field job as well. But among these four, team president Andrew Friedman loves Toles, having history with him in the Rays organization and then raising him quickly through the Dodgers’ farm system last year from A to Double-A to Triple-A to the majors. Friedman loves his athleticism and hit tool.
Thompson was acquired from the White Sox in the three-team deal with the Reds in December of 2015. As with Toles, the Dodgers love his athleticism, although they view him more as a platoon or extra player. Van Slyke is solid against left-handed pitching and can play both corners as well as first base, but he may also have to compete with Franklin Gutierrez for a roster spot as an outfield reserve. (Gutierrez is similarly useful against lefties.)
Bellinger is the sleeper of the group. He has the best bat and power, but his primary position is first base and the Dodgers would prefer their top prospect start the year in Triple-A.
Who wins? Andrew Toles. I think Toles gets the edge out of spring training, but don’t be surprised if Bellinger ends up their everyday left fielder by midseason. In the meantime, Ethier, Van Slyke and Thompson will all get some playing time at both corner outfield positions.
6. Left field, San Francisco Giants: Mac Williamson vs. Jarrett Parker.
The Giants’ two biggest needs this offseason were finding a closer and a left fielder. However, when they learned it was going to take four years and $62 million to land Mark Melancon to close, it blew their budget, resulting in a decision to let Williams and Parker fight it out for the job in left.
Williamson, 26, was the Giants third-round selection in the June 2012 amateur draft. The right-handed-hitting outfielder showed some power in the minors when he belted 25 home runs in 2013 at high-A San Jose, but he has yet to hit more than 13 in any season since. At the major league level, he’s had two cups of coffee and has not fared well either time, slashing just .222/.298/.382 in 161 plate appearances.
Parker ,28, has a similar frame but he’s a left-handed hitter with more consistent power, having hit 15 or more home runs in the minors in five different seasons. He’s also been better at the major league level slashing .267/.371/.494 in 205 plate appearances.
Who wins? Jarrett Parker. He’s the better hitter, but don’t be surprised if the Giants end up making a trade to solve left field at some point this year.
7. Catcher, Boston Red Sox: Sandy Leon vs. Christian Vazquez vs. Blake Swihart.
This is one of my favorite competitions because these three catchers are so different.
Leon was supposed to be a lifetime back-up type, but out of nowhere, he slashed an impressive .310/.369/.476 with 17 doubles and seven homers last year. The switch-hitting catcher also did a solid job in receiving and calling a game.
Vazquez has always been considered one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, with strong abilities in framing, calling a game, blocking balls and shutting down the running game. However, after his Tommy John surgery and missing all of 2015, his arm wasn’t as strong and consistent in 2016. If his throwing comes back fully in 2017, he will be a strong threat to Leon because of his special defense.
Then there’s Swihart, the catcher with the overall highest ceiling. His strength is his offensive potential, which is so good that the Red Sox front office still believes he’ll end up being an All-Star catcher in the long run. However, he hasn’t had the same support from the uniformed major league field staff, but that could change with a strong spring training.
Who wins? Sandy Leon. It’s likely that the Red Sox reward Leon for his strong 2016 season, but he won’t have a long leash, especially if Vazquez is completely healthy or if Swihart quickly develops and becomes the talent Boston’s player development department thinks he’s going to be.
8. Catcher, Cleveland Indians: Roberto Perez vs. Yan Gomes.
The Indians’ pitchers love throwing to Roberto Perez. They love his game-calling, his large target and ability to steal strikes with solid framing, as well as his talent in preventing wild pitches with quick blocking skills. However, his bat was so weak that at the trade deadline the Indians almost traded for Jonathan Lucroy, a deal which only fell apart because Lucroy had no-trade rights and nixed the swap. Perez responded by hitting twice as many home runs in the postseason as he had in the regular season.
Now Perez finds himself in a competition with veteran Yan Gomes. Gomes won the Silver Slugger for catcher for his hitting in 2014 when he batted .278 with 21 home runs. However, injuries have plagued him the past two seasons, and he’s struggled to make consistent contact, putting up a .205/.240/.365 line in 2015-2016. Just like Perez, Indians pitchers like throwing to him.
Who wins? Both. I think the competition between Perez and Gomes will last into the regular season, with both sharing the job until one of the two pulls away. They are both 28 years old, and I think whoever hits the best will end up on top, as they are both good catchers. I think in time Gomes will get his job back from Perez, but it might take a while.