Ben Cherington's backhanded Oneil Cruz compliment has Pirates fans confused

Baseball's top executives gathered in San Antonio last week for the annual General Manager Meetings. As GMs from around the league were made available to the media throughout the week to discuss their offseason strategies, priorities and more, Jesse Rogers of ESPN shared some key lessons and takeaways – including one rather intriguing detail from Ben Cherington and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"One thing is certain in Pittsburgh's lineup," Rogers wrote. "The Pirates are committed to playing Oneil Cruz in center field after he moved from shortstop this season."

Seriously? That's the one thing that's certain?

It doesn't exactly instill confidence in the fanbase when the team that's trying to build a competitive roster around a generational star remains this committed to keeping a below-average defensive player in a position at which he has just 23 games of experience.

Cruz was a very poor defensive shortstop, leading the league in fielding errors at numerous points last season before the Pirates were forced to pull the plug and move him in August – without warning – to center field, a position he had never played before. The timing and the abruptness of the position change seemed a little odd at the time, but at least it was a way to keep Cruz's powerful bat in a lineup that wasn't exactly rife with firepower (and that's putting it nicely).

Moving Cruz to the designated hitter spot wasn't an option either, as that role was locked down by veteran slugger Andrew McCutchen, who is expected to re-sign with the team and return to that position in 2025. So, the Pirates made the rather puzzling decision to move Cruz to center field instead of a corner outfield position.

Maybe the club wanted to give Cruz the highest-profile outfield position to soften the blow to his ego that came with removing him from the highest-profile infield position? We may never know. Regardless, Cruz is a center fielder now, whether he wants to be or not.

Ben Cherington's backhanded Oneil Cruz compliment has Pirates fans confused

Arguably making matters worse was Cherington's justification for moving Cruz to a position in which he had zero experience at any level.

"He's like an NFL wide receiver," Cherington said (via Rogers). "He's better in bigger spaces."

In fairness, Cruz is 6-foot-7, so it makes sense that a bigger guy would thrive in bigger spaces. But let's not sugarcoat it; Cherington's comment was a critique disguised as a compliment. Quarterbacks don't become wide receivers because they're "better in bigger spaces"; more often than not, they do so because they can't handle the demands of the highest-profile position on the field as well as someone else on the team can.

So, too, is the case with Cruz. He was an outright liability at the shortstop position, and now, the Pirates are just throwing him at the center field wall and hoping he sticks.

More Pirates content from Rum Bunter