Rosenthal: Fernando Tatis Jr. open to position change? Plus MLB trade notes - The Athletic $

What position, if any, will help keep him on the field?

“The plan so far is shortstop,” he said.

Could he play other positions?

Tatis laughed.

“Yeah, I could,” he said.

I then laid out why I was asking. Center field for the Padres hasn’t been great offensively. Ha-Seong Kim has excelled at shortstop defensively. Tatis could play center …

He laughed again.

“I like winning ballgames,” Tatis said. “If it means we’re going to win more ballgames like that, I’ll do it that way.”

Are you taking balls out there?

“I’ve been shagging, yeah.”

Some good comments about handling the metrics. A snippet here.

Turner said the idea of adjusting his game to improve his metrics is “kind of stupid,” while noting, correctly, that “Outs Above Average hates me.” But the Dodgers people say his defense in the last six weeks is noticeably improved, so clearly the change in positioning helped him.

He is a free agent at the end of the season. Teams will judge him according to his metrics. He was wise to make the change.

The Red Sox need to keep Bogaerts. They can’t let every homegrown star leave. When Mayers is ready, Xander can shift over to 3B. If Devers is still around, he can go to 1B.

Story, 29, missed time with elbow trouble in Sept. 2020, and was on the injured list from May 29 to June 10 last season with an elbow problem he said was a flexor strain. He might have fallen into some bad habits. He might still be regaining arm strength.

But here’s the question: If Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts opts out of his contract and departs as a free agent, would the team be comfortable with Story at shortstop, a position that requires a bigger arm than second?