Oneil Cruz is Pirates' big trade deadline question

The Pittsburgh Pirates have put themselves in a great position.

Their pitchers are performing as well as expected. Their hitters, including offseason additions, are raking.

Could this be the year the Pirates make some serious noise? It's certainly shaping up that way.

Really, they just have one major question: Oneil Cruz.

ESPN's Bradford Doolittle, in looking at what teams can do before the trade deadline this summer, doesn't think the Pirates should trade Cruz. He does think they need to figure out the best way to use him.

Essentially, where should Cruz be playing in the field?

"More worrisome is a team defense that figured to be an issue given the roster's construction has indeed been problematic," Doolittle writes. "It's a problem that doesn't figure to go away. The question the Pirates have to answer: Can this team become the best version of itself with Oneil Cruz playing in center field?"

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Cruz, right from the outset of this season, was making the kind of blunders out there that go viral for how bad they are.

He's an uber-talented player with an immense, athletic skillset. Cruz is capable of pretty much anything on a baseball field.

Sometimes, though, his forays in the outfield are quite the adventures.

It's not obvious what the immediate fix would be, but if the Pirates traded for a stud defender to play in center, maybe they could find another way to use Cruz.

It's certainly something they'll want to figure out if they hope to maximize this potentially special season.

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