Where Will Delino DeShields Go When Choo Is Back?

With Shin-Soo Choo set to return in the near future, questions arise on what to do with Delino DeShields.

It’s no secret, Delino DeShields is in a pretty bad slump. In fact, he’s 2 for his last 34 at bats. This isn’t something you want to see from your leadoff guy. This begs the question: What will the outfield look like once Shin-Shoo Choo comes back? Ian Desmond is finally catching on offensively, and Nomar Mazara is still raking. DeShields started the season slowly, going 0-10 in his first few games, then exploding offensively to bring his average up to .334, then slumping again to get back to a meager .219 average on the season.

If Delino keeps this up, he basically will relegate himself into the fourth outfielder. I presume Desmond will move to center field, as he’s shown he’s more than capable of playing defense in the outfield, Mazara moving to left, and Choo going back to right. But here at Nolan Writin’, we like to think of the crazy possibilities of what may happen in crazy situations. Here we go:

Mitch Moreland is in his last year of Arbitration, and will be a free agent after this season. It’s been pretty well known that he may not be coming back next season anyway, so why not trade him? If he gets traded, either Prince Fielder or Choo will move to first base, with the other going to designated hitter. Since Moreland would be a rental anyway, he probably won’t fetch much on the market, especially this early in the season. But, the Rangers may as well trade him now to get some sort of compensation, rather than wait until the end of the year, then get nothing in return for him when he eventually ends up on the Baltimore Orioles and averages 30 home runs a year. Doing this fixes the current logjam of the Ranger outfield, and still keeps space in the outfield for Lewis Brinson, who is expected to start in center field for the Major League squad in 2017.

Think I’m right? Think I’m a million miles away on what the Rangers will end up doing? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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