Viera, Fla. ? Alfonso Soriano and the Washington Nationals were stuck in a holding pattern Tuesday. The team had a day off, and no one seems to know whether he will agree to move from second base to left field.

It’s not the first time Soriano’s career has been affected by a proposed position change.

He was a shortstop in the minors, then moved to second base late in spring training before his rookie season with the New York Yankees in 2001, when Chuck Knoblauch accepted a shift from second to left field.

Soriano wound up becoming an All-Star at second for New York. Then, in 2004, he was shipped to Texas in the deal that sent Alex Rodriguez to the Yankees (where Rodriguez moved from shortstop to third base).

There was talk that spring of moving Soriano to the outfield, because the Rangers already had a second baseman in Michael Young. But the day before the first full-squad spring workout, Young offered to move over to Rodriguez’s old spot at shortstop.