Royals World Series hero Yordano Ventura killed in car accident

MLB columnist: It's Oscar Taveras' time to shine

The conventional wisdom that Allen Craig will be the St. Louis Cardinals' right fielder and Matt Adams will play first base may not be the way things work out during the 2014 season.

MLB.com columnist Jonathan Bernhardt has some good things to say about St. Louis' talented rookie Oscar Taveras and says he may just step into the right field job, replacing Carlos Beltran and moving Craig back to first base and Adams back to the bench:

Taveras went into 2013 as the No. 3 prospect in baseball by both Baseball America and MLB.com house charts in his age-21 season, and handled Triple A quite well until May, when he badly injured his ankle, tried to play through the pain, finally got shut down in July and underwent season-ending ankle surgery in August. The major concern with Taveras is no longer the bat; the bat can play, and if the Cardinals' recent track record of player development is any indication, it can play on a level that should allow him to step right in and replace Carlos Beltran in right field. Taveras has the arm for that position, unlike many center fielders.

The question is how his mobility will be affected by the ankle injury and surgery. It's unlikely his defensive profile will take a massive hit, but the risk is there -- so much so that the Cardinals traded David Freese to the Angels for Peter Bourjos this offseason, solidifying the center field position with Jon Jay still on the roster and pretty firmly committing Taveras to the outfield corners for 2014. Still, so long as he shows up to camp healthy and performs, Taveras should be the everyday right fielder in short order.

KSDK commentary: Cardinals need Allen Craig at first base

The projected starting lineup for 2014 for the St. Louis Cardinals has Allen Craig in right field and Matt Adams at first base, but a KSDK commentary by Joe Schwarz says the Redbirds would be better off playing Craig at first base for health reasons:

In conclusion, do I want Adams' bat in the lineup every day for a full season? You bet I do. However, I do not want it at the expense of Craig's health. With Beltran gone, the Cardinals will ask even more from Craig next season. They need 550+ plate appearances from him. Can he get that while playing right-field all season? Yes, he could, but I like his chances of reaching that number much more if he played most of his games at first.

Obviously, if set-backs occur with (Oscar) Taveras or he doesn't perform the way the organization would like early in the season, this post won't mean much. Yet, I still figured it was exploring because if he does perform the way many scouts believe he can, he will be an ideal fit in right-field for the long-term.

Any thoughts?