Could Viciedo wind up in left field?

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Here's perhaps the first real bit of news to come out of spring training, courtesy of our own Chuck Garfien:

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Chuck GarfienWhen all is said and done, don't be surprised if Alex Rios starts in RF and Dayan Viciedo moves to LF.
Feb 27 via UberSocial for BlackBerryFavoriteRetweetReply
There are a few implications if this indeed does happen. The first would be that the Sox appear committed to playing Alejandro De Aza in center field, which makes sense because he's the team's best defensive center fielder. But Rios needs to play somewhere, and he previously stated he wouldn't be comfortable in left field -- which is fair, given he's only played one game there in his entire career.

Playing Rios in an unfamiliar position could be counter-productive to getting his offensive production back to some level of respectability. If he's taking any defensive issues with him to the plate, that probably won't end well for his overall production.

Although being comfortable hasn't always worked for getting players to rebound -- look no further than Mark Teahen, who struggled through 2010 despite having the comfort of a three-year contract given to him after the Sox acquired him in 2009.

Viciedo would, in theory, be less prone to seeing his offensive numbers dip due to a position switch. He moved from third base to right field and continued to improve at the plate, and while right to left field is a significant change, it's not as earth-shattering as moving from the infield to outfield.

So here we have a storyline to follow this spring with potentially long-lasting implications. Viciedo has been penciled in as the right fielder of the future, but maybe we'll have to change that to left.

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