The All-Time MLB Converted Player Team

The Kansas City Royals announced yesterday that they would be converting their light-hitting shortstop, Tony Peña Jr., into a pitcher. Peña showed some encouraging signs when asked to pitch in the ninth inning of a 19-4 blowout at the hands of the Tigers—he only needed 12 pitches to get out of the inning and even struck out Ivan Rodriguez in the process. All after hitting .156 with 62 strikeouts and eight walks in two years at shortstop. This is not a new phenomenon, however—players have switched positions for multiple reasons in the past. Some players are just the unfortunate victims of depth, and must change positions in order to have a shot. Some are moved to new positions to lessen the strain on their aging bodies. Others, like Peña, lack certain tools to thrive in the big leagues and switch positions to resurrect their careers. Some of these have found success after switching positions, which got me thinking: What if you could only put together ...