Indians Look to Play Joe Carter in Center

When Brett Butler left Cleveland to sign a free-agent deal with San Francisco, Indians’ Manager Doc Edwards wasted no time deciding on his replacement.

“I wanted to get Joe Carter in one set position anyway, and I wanted to get him out of the infield because he has tremendous speed,” Edwards said.

Edwards briefly considered moving Cory Snyder from right field to center, but Carter’s range was the deciding factor.

“Joe is probably the fastest man on the ballclub,” the manager said in an interview this week. “A lot of people probably didn’t realize that. He played center field when Butler was hurt twice anyway. I’d like to put him in one spot and leave him there.”

Carter’s throwing arm is not as good as Snyder’s but it’s better than Butler’s, Edwards said.

“Usually you put your best arm in right field,” Edwards said. “Plus, Joe is so much faster than Cory. When you play center, you have to cover twice as much room, and I felt because Joe has more speed, he was the logical choice.”

Mel Hall, meanwhile, will finally be getting his chance to play left field full time.

Hall, a left-handed hitter who has been platooned in left for most of his career with the Indians, got more playing time once Edwards took over the club in the middle of last season.

“The second half of last year, Mel Hall played as good a left field as was played in this league,” Edwards said. “He knew he was going to be able to play every day, and I did play him a lot against left-handers. I may give him a day off against a real tough left-hander, but I want to give him the opportunity to play every day.”

Cleveland recently signed free-agent John Moses, who played center field for Seattle last year, but Edwards says that was merely a precautionary measure.

“We wanted another outfielder who could play center field in case something happens to Joe,” Edwards said. “Dave Clark is a right fielder and so is Carmen Castillo, and we wanted to settle Cory Snyder into one spot. So if something happens to Joe, rather than move Cory over to play center for a week or two, we’d rather have someone else who can play center field.”

The rest of the Indians’ everyday lineup is also as settled as can be expected going into spring training, Edwards said. He’ll probably use Pat Tabler as his designated hitter, rookie Don Lovell at first base, Tommy Hinzo at second, Julio Franco at shortstop and Brook Jacoby at third.

Andy Allanson has the edge over Chris Bando at catcher right now, although both will likely see plenty of action, Edwards said.

Cleveland’s pitching staff, which had the worst ERA in the majors at 5.28 last year, has at least three starters set in Greg Swindell, Tom Candiotti and John Farrell, with Rich Yett likely to claim the fourth spot. The fifth starter may be Scott Bailes, although Edwards said he’d prefer to use Bailes in the bullpen if veteran Ken Schrom or one of the Indians’ younger pitchers can take the final starting job.

Doug Jones and recently signed free agent Greg Harris will take two of the bullpen jobs, Edwards said.