"Jacoby is such a competitor and has been a center fielder his whole life," Boras told ESPN.com. "On the other hand, he's a teammate. Mike Cameron has clearly been a center fielder his whole life. He's a veteran player, and for him to make an adjustment at this point in his career, we agreed it's probably better for the Red Sox [to] keep Mike in center field. Jacoby's a teammate, and he said, 'I understand that.'"
Ellsbury committed only one error in center field last year. However, Fangraphs ranked Ellsbury among the worst full-time center fielders in ultimate zone rating (UZR) in 2009.
Boras says some defensive statistics can be misleading.
"When they get into the plus/minus determinations, we all do them. And isn't it great? It's like a crossword puzzle," Boras told the Sports Xchange. "The reality you have to understand is that the style of the pitching staff has a lot to do with those statistics.
"Also, when you're a baseball player and it's your first couple of years in the league, you're not going to go up to J.D. Drew and say, 'Get out of the way, I've got it.' No. You're letting J.D. Drew catch the baseball. So when you're going through those statistics, you're finding either corner outfielders that are less veteran or the center fielder is the veteran with the high numbers. Everybody is getting out of the way of Torii Hunter. It's that kind of a thing."
Boras attributes that reality to the decline in Ellsbury's defensive numbers.
"If you let the left fielder or right fielder catch the baseball, then what happens on the plus/minus when you do the calculation for the defensive metrics?" Boras asked rhetorically. "Yet I can go back and find 20 situations where Jacoby let the outfielder catch the ball he could have caught. That would have dramatically swayed the metrics of those evaluations. That's an arbitration argument."
Ellsbury has started 225 games in center field and 51 games in left field in his major league career. Despite his lack of starting experience in left, Ellsbury has embraced the move.
"I told Jacoby, there's a benefit and detriment to this," Boras told ESPN.com. "Your contribution to this team is so important up at the top [of the order], but the [impact on] your durability and the stress you put on your body day in and day out is extraordinary."
The Red Sox hope Ellsbury can follow in the footsteps of Rays outfielder Carl Crawford to become one of the most dynamic left fielders in the major leagues.
