Trade means Trea Turner finally has a defined position

In a little more than a year, Trea Turner has gone from being a Padres prospect to a Nationals star, with an excruciating period of limbo in the middle as a player to be named. He went from a strong-armed shortstop to a center fielder learning the position on a fly, with a little time at second base in between. He went from a greenhorn at the bottom of the lineup for a non-playoff Nats team to an exciting leadoff hitter for a division champion that played in the postseason.

Now, heading into his first full major league season with the Nats, the 23-year-old Turner has something he's never had before: positional clarity.

Saturday night's trade that sent shortstop Danny Espinosa to the Angels for a pair of minor league pitchers was the second in a series of moves that pretty much guarantee Turner will be the starting shortstop in 2017. The dominoes started to fall when the Nats acquired Adam Eaton from the White Sox for three pitching prospects at the Winter Meetings and announced Eaton would play center field, the position Turner manned for 45 games and into the playoffs after his final recall from Triple-A Syracuse last season.

"Excited to have an opportunity to go back there," Turner said at Nationals Winterfest on Sunday morning. "That's where I'm more comfortable, where I've played the majority of my career. I look forward to trying to prove I can play there at a high level and be consistent."

Returning to a familiar spot between second and third bases won't be without its challenges, however. Admitting that he was a little surprised to see Espinosa dealt, Turner said he would still push himself to get better at his former spot on the infield.

"I think everybody's always pushing to improve consistency," Turner said. "I felt like the last 20 or 30 games I played at Syracuse at short I felt really consistent, just not making stupid mistakes. I think it's a matter of being able to throw on the run accurately, do the difficult things more routine."

But there's something to be said for familiar surroundings.

"I think that plays a big role, moreso mentally than anything," he said. "I don't think you necessarily think about it, but it has a toll on you. Just having to worry about taking extra ground balls in the outfield. You don't have to think about second and turning double plays. Just having a set routine, I think, will be a little nicer and calm my mind."

The acquisition of Eaton, however, means a challenge for manager Dusty Baker, who must figure out how to configure his lineup to take maximum advantage of his two speedsters. Both Eaton and Turner have spent most of their careers hitting in the leadoff spot, so it's likely one of them will shift to the two-hole. Then there's the issue potentially having three left-handed hitters in a row: Eaton, right fielder Bryce Harper and second baseman Daniel Murphy. Eaton and Murphy, however, hit left- and right-handed pitchers equally well.

Where he hits doesn't really matter as much to Turner, who batted .342 with 33 stolen bases in 73 games, finishing second in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting.

"I think being a leadoff hitter you get some more stolen base attempts because when you get to three and four, you start to shut down on the base paths," Turner said. "I hit two basically my whole minor league career up until last year, (when I) started to lead off a little more. With the Padres, I hit two and three, and when I first got traded over, I hit leadoff or I hit two. It doesn't matter to me. Whatever works, whatever scores more runs is what I'm looking for."