Phillies and Orioles: Two center field merry-go-rounds

A week-plus into the Philadelphia Phillies spring training, the main question now seems to be: Can Mickey Moniak beat out the disgraced Odubel Herrera for the center field starting slot? It’s the tale of a first overall draft pick versus a guy who left hand-prints on his girlfriend’s neck.

Forget the narrative Philly talk radio is finally warming to – the supposed “five-way competition” for the center field slot. (They’ve finally run out of things to say about Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts – sort of.)

It’s not a five-way thing anymore – at least for another week. The three guys who are “done,” barring a serious revival, are Adam Haseley, Scott Kingery, and Roman Quinn.

With seven centerfielders between them, could the Phillies and Orioles solve a couple of problems together?

See, the thing is – Joe Girardi has made it clear he’s running an actual competition for this position. And the winners by quite a long way, thus far, are Herrera, a former All-Star, and Moniak, a player who hasn’t really performed very well at the minor league level.

Nobody thinks Quinn will stay healthy, and besides, he can’t hit. It doesn’t matter how fast you are if you can’t at least hit singles. Kingery is the utility guy who’s done only a little to show he’s recovered from his COVID infection, and Haseley is now injured.

So, are the two guys left in a terribly uneven battle? Very likely. It doesn’t seem so, however. Herrera, the veteran interrupted, is hitting .333 with a .917 OPS, and has made at least a couple of quite decent defensive plays. Moniak, the unimpressive minor leaguer, has a .556 BA, a 2.111 OPS, and a new, more adult physique. Between them, they have nine hits in 21 AB and three home runs.

One observer has already predicted Herrera will win this thing, but talk show callers in Philly are calling their favorite programs to discuss Moniak as though they’ve been analyzing his swing since he was drafted almost five years ago. “He’s still only 22, Joe,” they say breathlessly.

Some would say the Phillies have a good problem.

This doesn’t mean, though, that the Phillies couldn’t be thinking outside the proverbial box. Both of these players could tail off; Quinn and Kingery could surge, and then all the doubts could return about all four players – or five, counting Haseley.

Herrera is flaky and a PR problem. No one really expects Moniak to run away with the Rookie of the Year award. Quinn is too fragile, and Kingery is Kingery, mismanaged into a utility role.

A solution might be 90 miles south, where the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles are running their own center field competition between Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins. Between them, the O’s centerfielders have 12 hits in 31 AB, and both are hitting over .380. Recently, both were listed first by a Baltimore writer as rising value players.

Mullins has ditched batting from both sides of the plate – he’s now a lefty – and Hays, long expected to be a difference maker, looks as though he might finally be. Mullins is 26; Hays is only 25.

At the same time, the Orioles are toying with the idea of signing former Phillies and Royals third baseman Maikel Franco.

“No, no, no.” This is what Phillies GM Sam Fuld should be telling Mike Elias, his Orioles counterpart. “Why don’t you take Herrera, Kingery, and Vince Velasquez? We’ll take Hays off your hands. You can still run a center field competition, and so can we.“

This would simplify the Phillies center field situation and eliminate two of their sticky problems (Herrera and Kingery). It would give the Orioles a third baseman and a pitcher who needs a change of scenery as much as anything.

Let Herrera become “that guy who wasn’t charged with assault by the girlfriend he still lives with” in Baltimore. Give Kingery a position, finally, in Camden Yards. And see who comes out on top among Hays, Moniak, Quinn, and (eventually) Haseley in Philadelphia.

Kingery’s ballooning contract could be a stumbling block here, but it really shouldn’t be. The Phillies can’t find a spot for the guy, and the Orioles should be willing to pay an average of $6.25 million for a starting third baseman through 2023.

Besides, just thinking about this trade is a lot of fun.