One of the below topics made me question a possibility I have been thinking about on my own team. I have Hardball Dynasty – Fantasy Baseball Sim Games - Player Profile: Karim Richardson sitting in AAA. He looks like he will develop into a great defensive SS with world class speed, good base running and above average eye. Would anyone consider putting him on their ML team, and if so, would you consider a possible starting gig?

Starting gig?  Hah, no way.  That is one of the worst hitters Ive ever seen.  He should only see the bigs in the case of an extreme emergency.

I'd want his range/glove to be better as a starter simply because he won't hit much.   If he reaches 87/87 R/G, I'd consider starting him if the rest of my team could carry the dead spot in the line-up.   Otherwise, he's just an all-purpose utility guy that should be let go once he reaches arb.   They're useful but paying a lot of money for a guy who rests other players isn't a good use of funds.

My thinking is along the same lines as you MikeT, thanks for the input guys! I'm just not sure, regardless of lineup, if the offensive deficiencies would be worth it even if his range hit the 90s and glove was at least upper 80s.

I'll bump a thread about the effect good D has on pitching. 

Posted by a_ersberg on 2/15/2013 11:59:00 AM (view original):
Starting gig?  Hah, no way.  That is one of the worst hitters Ive ever seen.  He should only see the bigs in the case of an extreme emergency.

+1.  A 100/100/100/100 glove can't support this bat; your rule 5 pool will yield better overall players, guys with fielding ratings of 85-90 and batting ratings averaging 35-40.

Posted by asdlfef on 2/15/2013 11:48:00 AM (view original):
One of the below topics made me question a possibility I have been thinking about on my own team. I have Hardball Dynasty – Fantasy Baseball Sim Games - Player Profile: Karim Richardson sitting in AAA. He looks like he will develop into a great defensive SS with world class speed, good base running and above average eye. Would anyone consider putting him on their ML team, and if so, would you consider a possible starting gig?

He is done progressing, so what you see is what you are gonna get.  He may be a decent defensive replacement at SS on a BL roster, as long as he stays cheap (which he will).  Starting role, only if you are gunning for a high draft pick.

Starter? No. I'd keep him as a bench utility guy who can also PR. As long as he's making the Min, I'd be happy to keep him on my bench. Once he wants more, he's on the street.

The player posted is not enough of a super star defensively to start. If a player is 90-90-90-90 I would start at SS no matter how terrible the bat is. This guy has pretty much started every game for three years and has won three straight GG and been an anchor for a team that won a WS and made it to the NLCS the following year.

Nope.  Not a starter.  Probably not a MLB'er.  His glove isn't good enough to carry his .400 OPS bat.

You can find cheap glove guys like that, with a better bat, all over the place.

He's the type of guy I'd have around going in to a season (or more acurately going in to the prior off-season) thinking, "well, maybe if worse comes to worst I'll platoon him against lefties."

Worse never comes to worst.

First, as others have said, he'd have to progress beyond his current ratings for me to use him in the Majors at SS at all. Others are more lenient than I am with that. I put a premium on D. So if his D was good enough, I might carry his bat, but only agasinst LHP and as I said, only until I find someone better on the waiver wire, as a minor league FA or cheap ML FA.

Probably your AAA SS with a "September" call up.