Ed Lucas or Donovan Solano For Utility Role?

Mar 7, 2014; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins second baseman Donovan Solano (17) gets a base hit against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. The Marlins defeated the Cardinals 7-3. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

This spring has created a welcome predicament for the Miami Marlins. With so many players experiencing such overachieving play, the Marlins now have plethora of options to wade through to find the best players for their 25-man roster. The question that the Marlins must answer now is who can sustain this play into the regular season.

One of the more interesting battles has emerged between Ed Lucas and Donovan Solano. This battle has caught the eye of those in the media, including Alicia DelGallo from the Sun-Sentinel who mentioned that manager Mike Redmond won’t hold Lucas’ injury against him in deciding roster spots.

"“I think Luc has so much versatility, and for him to be able to play all the different positions is very valuable to us,” Redmond said. “He got banged up here the last time, but he’s fine.“They’re both great guys to have on the team. They play hard. They do all the things that we like. So, it really is a tough decision.”"

Both players have strengths and weaknesses that the Marlins will take into account. Lucas provides more positional flexibility as he can play any infield position and even a corner outfield position. Solano has primarily been used as a third baseman, second baseman, and shortstop. Solano is younger and the Marlins might want to invest more in him than a 31-year-old utility player. Lucas provides more pop, but Solano is better at moving runners and bunting.

Another thing that may hurt Donovan is the emergence of Derek Dietrich. If Dietrich can earn a spot, possibly pushing out Greg Dobbs, keeping Solano may be viewed as a redundancy once again.

I personally believe that as it stands right now, Solano is not going to make this team out of camp. Unless Rafael Furcal is more injured than we have been led to believe, I don’t see how keeping Solano is going to make this team better in the long run. What are your thoughts? Who do you envision the Marlins keeping? Let us know in the comments below.