I usually pick a team of 7 solid players and leave an opening in right field.  For a good amount of the season depending on matchups and park I play the best offensive player from AAA or bench in right field(or sometimes 1B) REGARDLESS of their fielding ratings or position.  So far it has worked out ok for me but dont try this at home, its a small sample size that I have used so far.

Thank you, chisox378!

hitting and pitching...
fielding...

Posted by chisox378 on 11/5/2015 11:32:00 AM (view original):
I usually pick a team of 7 solid players and leave an opening in right field.  For a good amount of the season depending on matchups and park I play the best offensive player from AAA or bench in right field(or sometimes 1B) REGARDLESS of their fielding ratings or position.  So far it has worked out ok for me but dont try this at home, its a small sample size that I have used so far.

Just like little league!

It is more important than most people here think. It is affected by market cap, your pitchers and varies by position. For mid-caps $60M-$100M, this is what I'd look for.

C: Range makes no difference and fielding only makes a slight difference. Ideally look for a C or better fielder with a CS% greater than 50%. Any catcher with at least D/A- fielding/ arm ratings is probably serviceable. The best bargains are out of position guys like '75 Carter, or '28 Foxx

1B: Just stay away from D- fielding and range. ~D/A+ guys are bargains.

2B: Look for A- or better fielding and C or better range. D- fielders like Bip Roberts are not bargains unless you are using awful pitchers. A or better fielders with at least C range are the best values

SS: Look for A/C or better. Again D- guys like HoJo are not the bargains most people think. There are several years of Omar Vizquell that are extremely valuable.

3B: Look for B/D or better. A++/ D guys are bargains

LF: Look for ~C/D or better Don't overpay for defense here.

CF: C/B or better works most of the time. I think B/A- is ideal.

RF: See LF. I generally put my second best OF in right.

Range at Middle infield helps with DP's......2b is more important for that than SS

Range at Middle infield helps with DP's......2b is more important for that than SS

Posted by Trentonjoe on 11/7/2015 4:10:00 PM (view original):
Range at Middle infield helps with DP's......2b is more important for that than SS

I agree although it's pretty close between 2B and SS at least the last I checked

I thought it was reasonably significant.....the only person I remembering posting data on it was jfranco and it was quite some time ago...

Posted by zubinsum on 11/7/2015 4:39:00 PM (view original):
It is more important than most people here think. It is affected by market cap, your pitchers and varies by position. For mid-caps $60M-$100M, this is what I'd look for.

C: Range makes no difference and fielding only makes a slight difference. Ideally look for a C or better fielder with a CS% greater than 50%. Any catcher with at least D/A- fielding/ arm ratings is probably serviceable. The best bargains are out of position guys like '75 Carter, or '28 Foxx

1B: Just stay away from D- fielding and range. ~D/A+ guys are bargains.

2B: Look for A- or better fielding and C or better range. D- fielders like Bip Roberts are not bargains unless you are using awful pitchers. A or better fielders with at least C range are the best values

SS: Look for A/C or better. Again D- guys like HoJo are not the bargains most people think. There are several years of Omar Vizquell that are extremely valuable.

3B: Look for B/D or better. A++/ D guys are bargains

LF: Look for ~C/D or better Don't overpay for defense here.

CF: C/B or better works most of the time. I think B/A- is ideal.

RF: See LF. I generally put my second best OF in right.

I thought Fielding factored into pass balls for catchers....the D-/D-/X catchers are killers....

Posted by zubinsum on 11/7/2015 4:39:00 PM (view original):
It is more important than most people here think. It is affected by market cap, your pitchers and varies by position. For mid-caps $60M-$100M, this is what I'd look for.

C: Range makes no difference and fielding only makes a slight difference. Ideally look for a C or better fielder with a CS% greater than 50%. Any catcher with at least D/A- fielding/ arm ratings is probably serviceable. The best bargains are out of position guys like '75 Carter, or '28 Foxx

1B: Just stay away from D- fielding and range. ~D/A+ guys are bargains.

2B: Look for A- or better fielding and C or better range. D- fielders like Bip Roberts are not bargains unless you are using awful pitchers. A or better fielders with at least C range are the best values

SS: Look for A/C or better. Again D- guys like HoJo are not the bargains most people think. There are several years of Omar Vizquell that are extremely valuable.

3B: Look for B/D or better. A++/ D guys are bargains

LF: Look for ~C/D or better Don't overpay for defense here.

CF: C/B or better works most of the time. I think B/A- is ideal.

RF: See LF. I generally put my second best OF in right.

That is super-helpful Zubin, thanks ! And also for giving us some cover for not using certain cookies in some positions.

Posted by Trentonjoe on 11/7/2015 5:49:00 PM (view original):

Posted by zubinsum on 11/7/2015 4:39:00 PM (view original):
It is more important than most people here think. It is affected by market cap, your pitchers and varies by position. For mid-caps $60M-$100M, this is what I'd look for.

C: Range makes no difference and fielding only makes a slight difference. Ideally look for a C or better fielder with a CS% greater than 50%. Any catcher with at least D/A- fielding/ arm ratings is probably serviceable. The best bargains are out of position guys like '75 Carter, or '28 Foxx

1B: Just stay away from D- fielding and range. ~D/A+ guys are bargains.

2B: Look for A- or better fielding and C or better range. D- fielders like Bip Roberts are not bargains unless you are using awful pitchers. A or better fielders with at least C range are the best values

SS: Look for A/C or better. Again D- guys like HoJo are not the bargains most people think. There are several years of Omar Vizquell that are extremely valuable.

3B: Look for B/D or better. A++/ D guys are bargains

LF: Look for ~C/D or better Don't overpay for defense here.

CF: C/B or better works most of the time. I think B/A- is ideal.

RF: See LF. I generally put my second best OF in right.

I thought Fielding factored into pass balls for catchers....the D-/D-/X catchers are killers....

I have used Duke Farrell and Wally Schang without much issue. But like I wrote it is better to get a C fielder.

I just checked, it looks like the D's and high D-'s are only about 10-15 errors per 162.

Posted by Trentonjoe on 11/7/2015 5:47:00 PM (view original):
I thought it was reasonably significant.....the only person I remembering posting data on it was jfranco and it was quite some time ago...

you may be right. My rationale was the distrubution of balls in play is pretty even between the left and right sides of the field. That would mean with a man at first there is a pretty even distribution on who takes the pivot.

One thing I've also noticed is that you need to check how many errors the player actually made. Not all A fielders are created equal. In fact, some C fielders may have committed less errors in real life than an A fielder. The range factor seems to hold true more than the fielding...because the fielding grade of a player in different eras can greatly differ. For instance a C rated Larry Bowa at SS may have only committed 20 errors in a particular season and he will most likely commit close to the number of errors he made that season where as an A rated George Davis might have committed 55 errors. More than likely the C rated Bowa is the superior fielder who will commit less errors for you.

The fact that the pitcher helps determine what your fielders will do is news to me. It would seem to me the reason would indeed be the number of strikeouts vs balls put into play for causing more errors. I did have Erick Aybar in an OL commit like 35 errors for me when in real life he only made 15. That's more than twice as many. He didn't have twice as many chances. I was using dead ball pitchers. So that seems to indicate that the pitcher may indeed have the affect on their fielders stated above. I don't doubt it.