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NL East Preview: Center Fielder

The center field position has a ton of speed, as one would expect from the position. The Marlins center field job is still up for grabs. They do have a favorite to land the job, but they are also rumored to be interested in Yoennis Cespedes. With some time until spring training officially starts, the job is not guaranteed to anyone just yet.

Here is a glimpse of the starting center fielders for each NL East team in 2012.

 Michael Bourn

ProjectionPAAVGOBPSLGwOBAWARHR
Bill James638.274.339.353.3162.73
Roto Champ674.283.346.371.3303.02
Fans702.284.340.365.3253.92

Emilio Bonifacio

ProjectionPAAVGOBPSLGwOBAWARHR
Bill James487.276.338.354.3121.72
Roto Champ630.282.351.374.3312.84
Fans623.275.339.355.3182.43

Andres Torres

ProjectionPAAVGOBPSLGwOBAWARHR
Bill James392.255.332.405.3272.88
Roto Champ506.231.316.382.3162.19
Fans561.254.335.363.3183.27

Shane Victorino

ProjectionPAAVGOBPSLGwOBAWARHR
Bill James646.277.344.441.3443.817
Roto Champ606.268.342.459.3543.316
Fans621.280.350.453.3564.815

Jayson Werth

ProjectionPAAVGOBPSLGwOBAWARHR
Bill James579.259.360.451.3543.823
Roto Champ618.247.348.428.3473.322
Fans658.267.362.451.3584.324

According to these projections, we can draw this:

  1. Shane Victorino
  2. Jayson Werth
  3. Michael Bourn
  4. Andres Torres
  5. Emilio Bonifacio

Center field as I mentioned before has a ton of speed. The Flying Hawaiian, as Victorino is known as, is an exciting player to watch. He not only plays good defense, he swings a good bat as well. He has always been a thorn on the side for the Fish. Next up is the last years big free agent bust for the Nationals, Jayson Werth. I see Werth bouncing back in a big way. I placed him in center field because I see Bryce Harper being with the team for the majority of the season, if not all of it. Michael Bourn might be the fastest player in baseball. He would be one of my favorite players in baseball, if only he were not a Brave. He will be another player that can cause havoc in the NL East. The Mets acquired Torres from the San Francisco Giants for Angel Pagan. Torres is likely the best defender in center in the NL East. He will cover a lot of ground in the spacious Citi Field, but his offense leaves a lot to be desired. For the Marlins, this entire projection thing could be mute if they sign Cespedes. Cespedes has the potential to be at the very top of this list in his first MLB season. Whether he signs with the Marlins or not is still to be seen. Bonifacio is not necessarily guaranteed the starting job though. Bryan Peterson, Aaron Rowand, and Scott Cousins will also have a shot at the center field job for the Fish.

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