There is a misconception that switching positions in baseball, no matter how subtle, is easy to do. It is not. Left field is different from right field, moving from third base to first base isn't simply one corner to the other, going from shortstop to second is like starting over and moving from the outfield to the infield ... well, that adjustment can't be done in one spring training.

A number of players are playing new positions this spring, with varying results. The Mets' Edgardo Alfonzo is back at third base after three years at second base. Alfonzo's transition has been seamless mostly because he was an excellent third baseman prior to moving to second; he just has to get used to the ball getting on him quicker, and not being able to set his feet.

It's a lot harder to go from the left side of the infield to the right side, as new Indians second baseman Ricky Gutierrez, a former shortstop, knows. Shawon Dunston played the first 1,198 games of his career at shortstop, then he started moving around, and wound up on Opening Day 1998 as the second baseman for the Indians. He was horrible. Everything was different than at shortstop, everything was backwards. He had to turn the double play with his back to the runner, where Dunston couldn't see him. "He was afraid," one former teammate said. The experiment didn't last long. Soon after, when Dunston went to the Mets, he told manager Bobby Valentine that he would play any position on the field ... except second.

Gutierrez is adjusting better than Dunston, but Gutierrez has played second before (27 games, although none since Sept. 16, 1997), which helps. Gutierrez has been aided tremendously by shortstop Omar Vizquel, who has played next to a lot of second basemen. Gutierrez has a strong arm, which helps him make the turn under duress.

The Padres moved Phil Nevin from third base to first base to make room for rookie Sean Burroughs. Nevin has an advantage in that he has played so many positions; he even learned to catch several years ago. He hasn't been tested much this spring and there are a lot of plays he hasn't had to make yet, but early reports are good. "There's more responsibility at first," said Nevin, referring to holding runners, bunt plays and cutoffs. Padres manager Bruce Bochy reports that "Phil says after taking infield, he's exhausted."

The Braves moved Chipper Jones from third base to left field, a switch that has gone well so far. "Bored," is how Jones described his Opening Day start in left field. Soon, he won't be: the ball will find him. Jones is a great athlete -- he was drafted as a shortstop -- and he made a successful move to third base without significant problems. But Jones was never a great third baseman, and it appeared he was getting jittery down there, at least in the last two postseasons. Sometimes, a move to a less pressurized position such as left field can help a player at the plate.

Detroit catcher/first baseman Robert Fick's move to right field likely will be delayed a week because of a sore hamstring; he says that every play he makes is the first time he has made that play. Luckily, he had Hall of Fame outfielder Al Kaline with him in spring training as a special instructor. Kaline reminded Fick not to bring a bad at-bat to the outfield, where there is a lot more time to think than behind the plate.

The move of a catcher to another position is extremely difficult, which brings us to Jason Kendall, Pudge Rodriguez and Mike Piazza. There has been speculation in recent years that Kendall would move to second or the outfield, Rodriguez would become a second baseman and Piazza would go to first. Those are drastic moves, and none is likely to happen anytime soon.

Houston's Craig Biggio made the switch from catcher to second, but when he did it in 1992, he became the first player since Tom Daly (1887-1903) to play 100 games at catcher and 100 games at second base -- in a career. Anyway, Biggio played second base in high school and has great speed, quickness and athleticism. This wasn't Gus Triandos moving to second.

Kendall is where he belongs. He is a catcher. Teaching him the finer points of second base play would take several years, during which time his team, especially his pitching staff, would suffer. Biggio took extra groundballs for an hour every day in spring training 1992 when he made his switch. He played almost every exhibition game that spring; many games, he played nine innings. "I was exhausted," Biggio said. "But I had to do it so I could learn."

Rodriguez is where he belongs. He is, after all, one of the best defensive catchers in the game, and he can control a running game by himself because he's so quick behind the plate. Does he have good enough hands to play second base? Certainly. Does he have good enough feet to play there? Absolutely. But like Kendall, he would take several years to master the position. And when you're getting a .320 average with 25 home runs from behind the plate -- with great defense, also -- why in the world would you want to switch him?

Piazza is where he belongs. In recent years, there has been talk of moving him to first base -- "his junior college coach told me he was a great first baseman," Valentine said. Valentine put a first baseman's mitt in Piazza's locker two years ago and Piazza never touched it. Can you blame him? He's not the greatest athlete in the world. Moving to a new position, without the proper preparation, could mean embarrassing himself and hurting his team. No professional athlete, especially a proud one such as Piazza, wants that. Piazza is also well aware of his place in history -- greatest hitting catcher of all time -- and he wants to add to that. He has more 35-home run seasons than the rest of the Hall of Fame catchers combined. Why would a team want to move a catcher who hits 35 homers and drives in 100 yearly?

The key with Piazza is developing a second position so his bat can be utilized in the 40 or so games that he doesn't catch. Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra did that in their careers so they could still hit when they didn't catch. That will happen with Piazza as soon he makes the commitment to learning another position.

When he does, it won't be easy.

Tim Kurkjian is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and a regular contributor to Baseball Tonight. E-mail tim.kurkjian@espnmag.com.